OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 
OF 


OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 


OF 


i  by  A  H  Bite  nie 


HISTORY 


OF  THE 


RECONSTRUCTION  MEASURES 


OP   THE 


THIRTY-NINTH  AND  FORTIETH  CONGRESSES. 


1865-68. 


BY    HENRY    WILSON. 


HARTFORD: 

PUBLISHED   BY   SUBSCRIPTION    ONLY,    BY   THE 

HARTFORD    PUBLISHING    COMPANY 

J.  A.  STODDARD,  CHICAGO,  ILL. 

HAWKS  &  CO.,  BOSTON. 

1868. 


x?531* 

Oi-' 

UNl\ 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1868,  by  the 

HARTFORD  PUBLISHING  COMPANY, 
in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  Connecticut 


Electrotyped  by 

LOCKWOOD  &  MANDEVILLE, 
HARTPOBD,  CONN. 


PREFACE. 


THE  sudden  collapse  of  the  rebellion  in  the  Spring  of 
1865,  precipitated  upon  the  country  the  questions  of  re 
construction,  restoration  and  reconciliation.     The  Presi 
dent,  without  consulting  Congress,  early  assumed  the  task 
of  initiating  measures  for  restoring  the  rebel  States  to  their 
practical  relations  to  the  Government.     On  entering  upon 
that  work,  the  President  assured  hesitating  political  friends 
that  he  was  entering  upon  an  experiment ;  that  if  it  failed, 
the  power  to  correct  errors  and  mistakes  would  remain  in 
Congress.     The  policy  inaugurated  by  the  President  placed  r 
the  rebellious  States,  that  were  without  civil  governments  / 
when  hostilities  ceased,  completely  under  the  control  of  the  / 
active  supporters  of  the  rebellion.     Instead  of  referring) 
the  whole  matter  to  Congress,  the  President  assumed  that) 
his   policy   was   eminently   successful.      He   resolved  to  \ 
adhere  to  it,  leaving  to  Congress  simply  the  question  of 
passing  upon  the  qualifications  of  Senators  and  Represent-  \ 
atives.       Congress,  believing  that  the  power  to  initiate 
proceedings  for  the  restoration  of  civil  governments  in  the 
rebellious  States  was  vested  in  the  legislative,  not  the  ex 
ecutive  department  of  the  government,  and  that  the  results 

1 72402 


IV  PREFACE. 

of  the  President's  policy  endangered  the  rights  of  the 
people  and  the  authority  of  the  nation,  entered  upon  a 
series  of  legislative  measures  intended  to  secure  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  the  freedmen,  protect  those  who  had 
remained  loyal  to  the  Government,  preserve  order  and  put 
those  States  under  the  control  of  men  loyal  to  the  country, 
to  liberty  and  justice.  Measures  were  introduced,  dis 
cussed,  and  some  of  them  enacted  into  laws,  to  secure  the 
desired  ends  of  restoring  the  unity  of  the  country  and 
establishing  the  equality  of  rights  and  privileges  of  citizens 
of  the  United  States.  My  purpose  in  this  work  has  been 
to  narrate  with  brevity  and  impartiality  this  legislation  of 
Congress,  and  to  give  the  positions,  opinions  and  feelings 
of  the  actors  in  these  great  measures  of  legislation.  I 
have  endeavored  to  record  with  fidelity  and  fairness  these 
Keconstruction  Measures  of  Congress,  and  I  present  this 
volume  to  the  public  in  the  hope  that  it  will  be  of  some 
little  interest  to  the  readers  of  the  history  of  these  eventful 
times  in  our  country. 

HENEY  WILSON. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE. 

RECONSTRUCTION  COMMITTEE. 

The  38th  Congress  expired. — The  39th  met. — Mr.  Stevens'  Resolution. 
Mr.  Eldridge. — Mr.  Dawson. — Resolution  passed. — Resolution  con 
sidered  in  caucus. — Resolution  taken  up  in  the  Senate. — Motion  of 
Mr.  Anthony  to  amend. — Mr  Howard's  speech. — Mr.  Anthony's 
speech. — Mr.  Doolittle's  speech. — Mr.  Fessenden's  speech. — Amend 
ment  agreed  to. — Mr.  Cowan  moved  to  amend. — Remarks  of  Mr. 
Saulsbury,  Mr.  Hendricks,  and  Mr.  Trumbull. — Mr.  Dixon. — Speech 
of  Mr.  Guthrie. — Amendment  rejected. — Mr.  Stevens. — Joint  Com 
mittee. — Resolution,  Mr.  "Wilson  of  Iowa. — Mr.  Anthony  and  Mr. 
Cowan. — Speech  of  Mr.  Howe. — Mr.  Johnson's  speech. — Mr.  Doolit 
tle's  speech. — Mr.  Nesmith's  speech. — Mr.  Wade's  speech. — Mr. 
Howe's  speech. 13 

CHAPTER   II. 

RECONSTRUCTION.— PRESIDENT'S   MESSAGE. 

Mr.  Stevens'  motion  agreed  to. — Debate  on  Reconstruction. — Spccch-of — - 
Mr.  Stevens. — Mr.  Finck's_  Speech.— Mr.  JSa.ymoEuL — Mr.  Bingham. 
Speech" ~oT~  Mr.  Spaulding. — Speech  of  Mr.  Latham. — Mr.  Elaine. 
Mr.  Shellabarger's  Speech. — Mr.  Voorhees'  Resolution. — Speech  of 
Mr.  Voorhees. — Mr.  Bingham's  Speech. — Motion  to  amend. — Refer 
red. — Speech  of  Mr.  Deming. — Mr.  Smith. — Mr.  Baker's  Speech.— 
Mr.  Broomall's  Speech. — Mr.  Hubbell's  Speech. — Mr.  Randall. — Mr. 
Lawrence. — Mr.  Stillwell. — Mr.  Welker. — Mr.  Henderson. — Mr.  Kelso. 


VI  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

Speech  of  Mr.  Ward. — Speech  of  Mr.  Newell. — Remarks  of  Mr. 
Strouse. — Mr.  Defrecs.— Mr.  Cook. — Resolutions  of  Mr.  Broomall. 
Mr.  Cullom's  Speech. — Mr.  Clarke's  Speech. — Mr.  Plantz's  Speech. 
Mr.  Beaman's  Speech. — Mr.  Bromwell's  Speech. — Mr.  Me  Kee's 
Speech. — Mr.  Thornton's  Speech. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Kuykendall,  and 
Mr.  Finck. — Mr.  Orth. — Speech  of  Mr.  Stevens.  -  -  -  42 


CHAPTER   HI. 

TO  PROTECT  PERSONAL  FREEDOM. 

Mr.  Wilson's  bill. — Mr.  Cowan's  motion. — Mr.  Wilson's  speech. — Speech 
of  Mr.   Johnson. — Speech   of   Mr.  Cowan. — Speech  of  Mr.  Wilson. 

Remarks   of  Mr.  Sherman,    of  Mr.  Saulsbury,   of  Mr.  Trumbull. 

Speech  of  Mr.  Sumner. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Saulsbury. — Remarks  of 
Mr.  Cowan. — Speech  of  Mr.  Stewart. — Speech  of  Mr.  Wilson. — Re 
marks  of  Mr.  Stewart. — Speech  of  Mr.  Wilson. —  Speech  of  Mr. 
Saulsbury. 105 


CHAPTER  IV. 

CIVIL  RIGHTS. 

Mr.  Sumner's  bill.— Mr.  Wilson's  bill. — Mr.  Trumbull's  bill. — Mr.  Trum- 
bull's  speech. — Mr.  McDougall. — Mr.  Trumbull's  amendment  modi 
fied. — Mr.  Johnson's  speech. — Mr.  Lane's  motion  to  amend  Mr.  Trum 
bull's  amendment. — Speech  of  Mr.  Morrill. — Mr.  Guthrie. — Mr.  Lane. 
Mr.  Wilson. — Mr.  Cowan. — Mr.  McDougall. — Mr.  Trumbull's  reply 
to  Mr.  Hendricks  and  Mr.  Cowan. — Passage  of  the  bill. — The  bill 
considered  in  the  House. — Mr.  Wilson's  speech. — Mr.  Raymond. — Mr. 
Dumont's  motion  to  amend. — Mr.  Washburn's  motion  to  amend. — Mr. 
Bingham's  motion  to  amend. — Mr.  Shellabarger's  speech. — Mr.  Wil 
son's  speech. — Closing  debate. — Passage  of  the  bill. — Concurrence 
of  the  Senate. — The  President's  veto. — Passage  of  the  bill  in  Senate 
and  House  over  the  veto. •  -117 

CHAPTER   Y. 

THE  FREEDMEN'S  BUREAU. 

Mr.  Eliot's  resolution  for  appointment  of  Select  Committee. — Mr.  Loon's 
resolution.— Mr.  Eliot's  bill.— Mr.  Doolittle's  bill.— Mr.  Trurnbull's 


CONTENTS.  Vll 

PAGE. 

bill. — Mr.  Howe. — Mr.  Trumbull's  amendment. — Mr.  Cowan's  amend 
ment. — Speech  of  Mr.  Guthrie. — Mr.  Pomeroy. — Mr.  Creswell. — Mr. 
Wilson. — Mr.  Cowan. — Mr.  Davis'  amendment. — Mr.  Fessenden's 
amendment — his  speech. — Mr.  Creswell. — Mr.  Willey. — Mr.  Davis. — 
Passage  of  the  bill. — Action  in  the  House. — Speech  of  Mr.  Eliot. — 
Mr.  Dawson. — Mr.  Donnelly. — Mr.  Garfield. — Mr.  McKee. — Amend 
ment  disagreed  to. — Mr.  Stevens'  substitute  rejected. — Substitute 
of  Committee  accepted. — Passage  of  the  bill. — Senate. — Speeches 
of  Mr.  Guthrie — Mr.  Sherman — Mr.  Henderson — Mr.Trumbull — Mr. 
McDougall. — Mr.  Guthrie's  amendment  rejected. — Concurrence  of 
the  House. — Mr.  Davis'  speech  on  the  veto. — Mr.  Trumbull. — Pas 
sage  of  the  bill. 148 


CHAPTER  VI 

BUREAU  OF  FREEDMEN  AND  REFUGEES. 

Bill  reported  by  Mr.  Eliot. — Mr.  Stevens'  amendment. — Mr.  Davis* 
amendment. — Mr.  Shellabarger's  amendment  agreed  to. — Amend 
ments  of  Mr.  Davis  and  Mr.  Scofield. — Mr.  Shellabarger's  amendment 
agreed  to.— Passage  of  the  Bill. — Bill  reported  to  the  Senate  by  Mr. 
Wilson,  with  amendments. — Mr.  Wilson's  speech. — Amendments. 
Debate  by  Mr.  Hendricks. — Mr.  Trumbull. — Speech  of  Mr.  Fes- 
senden. — Passage  of  the  Bill. — Committee  of  Conference. — Confer 
ence  report  by  Mr.  Wilson. — Report  of  Mr.  Eliot. — President's  veto 
message. — Passage  of  the  bill. 184 


CHAPTER  VH. 

REBEL  DEBT— CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENT. 
Resolution  of  Mr.  Farnsworth  reported  by  Mr.  Wilson  with  amend 
ments. — Amendment  agreed  to. — Debated  by  Mr.  Wilson,  Mr.  Rog 
ers,  Mr.  Farnsworth,  Mr.  Rousseau,  Mr.  Johnson,  Mr.  Higby,  Mr. 
Sloan,  Mr.  Niblack  and  Mr.  Randall. — Resolution  passed. — Reso 
lution  by  Mr.  Sumner. — Resolution  by  Mr.  Wilson. — Speech  by  Mr. 
Wilson. 195 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

RIGHTS  OF  CITIZENS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 
Resolution  reported  by  Mr.  Bingham  to  amend  Constitution. — Speech 
of  Mr.  Bingham,  Mr.  Rogers,  Mr.  Higby,  Mr.  Randall,   Mr.  Kelley, 
Mr.  Hale,  Mr.  Davis,   Mr.   Woodbridge. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Conkling. 
Mr.  Hotcbkiss. — Mr.  Conkling's  motion  to  postpone. — Mr.  Eldridge's 
motion. — Consideration  postponed.          - 200 


CHAPTER   IX. 

REPRESENTATION. 

Concurrent  Resolution  reported  by  Mr.  Stevens  on  admission  of  Sen 
ators  and  Representatives  from  rebel  States.— Mr.  Grider's  minority 
report.— Speech  of  Mr.  Eldridge.— Mr.  Stevens.— Resolution  passed. 
In  the  Senate  Mr.  Fessenden  called  up  the  Resolution.— Debated  by 
Messrs.  Cowan,  Fessenden,  Johnson,  Trumbull,  Davis,  Dixon, 
Sherman,  Doolittle,  Howe,  Johnson. — Speech  of  Mr.  Fessenden, 
Mr.  Sherman,  Mr.  Dixon.— Remarks  of  Mr.  Trumbull,  Mr.  Dix 
on  and  Mr.  Howard.— Speech  of  Mr.  Nye,  Mr.  Stewart,  Mr.  John 
son. — Mr.  Hendricks  moved  an  amendment. — Speech  of  Mr.  Wade, 
Mr.  Cowan,  Mr.  Davis,  Mr.  Doolittle,  Mr.  Wilson,  Mr.  Fessenden, 
Mr.  McDougall.— Resolution  passed.  ------  206 


CHAPTER  X. 

BASIS   OF   REPRESENTATION— CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENTS. 

Mr.  Stevens'  Joint  Resolution. — Mr.  Stevens'  speech. — Speech  of  Mr. 
Rogers,  Mr.  Conkling,  Mr.  Elaine,  Mr.  Kelley,  Mr.  Donnelly,  Mr. 
Brooks.— Mr.  Baker's  amendment.— Speech  of  Mr.  Jenckes.— Mr. 
Shellabarger's  amendment. — Mr.  Eliot's  amendment. — Mr.  Schenck's 
amendment.— Speech  of  Mr.  Pike.— Remarks  of  Mr.  Kelley.— Speech 
of  Mr.  Eldridge,  Mr.  Bingham.— Mr.  BroomalPs  amendment.— Speech 
of  Mr.  Ward.— Mr.  Schenck's  substitute  rejected.— Joint  Resolution 
adopted. — Considered  in  the  Senate. — Mr.  Sumner's  speech. — Mr. 
Henderson's  motion  to  amend  Mr.  Sumner's  amendment. — Speech  of 
Mr.  Fessenden,  Mr.  Lane,  Mr.  Johnson. — Mr.  Sumner's  amendment. 
Speech  of  Mr.  Henderson,  Mr.  Clarke,  Mr.  Williams. — Mr.  Howard's 


CONTENTS.  IX 

PAGE. 

amendment.— Speech  of  Mr.  Wilson,  Mr.  Pomeroy,  Mr.  Saulsbury, 
Mr.  Sumner,  Mr.  Morrill. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Fessenden. — Mr.  Sher 
man's  amendment. — Mr.  Clark's  amendment. — Mr.  Grimes  and  Mr. 
Sumier's  amendments. — Mr.  Wilson's  amendment.  -  -  -  218 


CHAPTER  XL 

AMENDMENT  TO  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

Mr.  Stevens'  report  from  Joint  Committee. — The  amendment. — Speech 
of  Mr.  Stevens.— Remarks  of  Mr.  Garfield,  Mr.  Thayer,  Mr  Boyer, 
Mr.  Schenck,  Mr.  Broomall,  Mr.  Raymond,  Mr.  Boutwell,  Mr.  Spaul- 
ding. — Speech  of  Mr.  Eliot. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Dawes. — Resolution 
passed  tte  House. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Howard. — Mr.  Wade's  Amend 
ment. — Mr.  Wilson's  amendment. — Mr.  Clark's  amendment. — Mr. 
Buckalew'3  amendment. — Mr.  Howard's  amendment. — Mr.  Doolittle's 
amendment  to  Mr.  Howard's  amendment  rejected. — Mr.  Van  Winkle's 
motion  to  amend. — Speech  of  Mr.  Poland,  Mr.  Howe,  Mr.  John 
son. — Mr.  Yates'  amendment. — Motion  of  Mr.  Clark. — Mr.  Fessen- 
den's  amendment. — Passage  of  the  Resolution.  ....  244 


CHAPTER  XII. 

NEGRO  SUFFRAGE  IN  THE  DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA. 
Mr.  Wade's  Bill.— Mr.  Kelley's  Bill.— Mr.  Wade's  Bill  reported  with 
amendments. — Recommitted. — Speech  of  Mr.  Kelley,  Mr.  Bingham,. 
Mr.  Grinnell,  Mr.  Julian,  Mr.  Boutwell. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Howard. — 
Mr.  Schenck's  motion  agreed  to. — Passage  of  the  Bill. — Senate. — 
Mr.  Wade's  Bill  reported  with  amendments. — Mr.  Morrill's  motion. 
Mr.  Wilson's  motion  to  amend  Mr.  Morrill's  amendment. — Remarks 
of  Mr.  Grimes. — Mr.  Anthony's  motion  to  amend  Mr.  Kelley's  amend 
ment. — Speech  of  Mr.  Wilson,  Mr.  Anthony. — Mr.  Cowan's  motion 
— his  amendment  and  speech  on  female  suffrage. — Speech  of  Mr. 
Wade.— Remarks  of  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  Mr.  Brown,  Mr.  Davis,  Mr. 
Sprague,  Mr.  Buckalew.— Speech  of  Mr.  Foster,  Mr.  Wilson.— Re 
marks  of  Mr.  Hendricks. — Speech  of  Mr.  Lane,  Mr.  Sumner. — Mr. 
Dixon's  Reading  and  Writing  amendment  rejected, — Mr.  Wilson's 
amendment  agreed  to. — Bill  passed. — Bill  taken  up  in  the  House  and 
passed.— Veto  Message.— Passage  of  the  Bill  over  the  Veto.  -  -  266 


CONTEN  TS. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

SUFFRAGE  IN  THE  TERRITORIES, 

Mr.  Ashley's  Bill.— Motion  of  Mr.  Le  Blond.— Remarks  of  Mr.  Spauid- 
ing  and  Mr.  Le  Blond. — Bill  passed. — Mr.  Wade  reported  House  Bill 
with  amendments. — Motion  of  Mr.  Buckalew. — Speech  of  Mr.  Wt.de, 
Remarks  of  Mr.  Buckalew. — Speech  of  Mr.  Saulsbury. — Bill  post 
poned. — Mr.  Wade's  substitute. — Amendment  modified. — Bill  passed. 
Mr.  Wade's  motion. — Mr.  Ashley's  motion. — House  concurred.  298 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE  ADMISSION  OF  TENNESSEE. 

Joint  Resolution  reported  by  Mr.  Bingham. — Minority  report. — Mr. 
Bingham's  substitute. — Substitute  agreed  to. — Speech  of  Mr.  Bout- 
well,  Mr.  Bingham. — Resolution  passed. — Mr.  Trumbull's  Resolution. 
Mr.  Trumbull's  report. — Motion  of  Mr.  Sumner  rejected. — Motion  of 
Mr.  Doolittle  agreed  to. — Motion  of  Mr.  Trumbull.  Mr.  Sherman's 
preamble  lost. — Mr.  Sprague's  amendment. — Mr.  Trumbull's  amend 
ment  adopted. — Speech  of  Mr.  Brown. — Resolution  passed. — Mr. 
Conness's  amendment. — House  agreed  to  the  Senate  amendment. 
Joint  Resolution  passed. — Credentials  referred. — Report  of  com 
mittee  agreed  to. 303 

CHAPTER  XY. 

RESTORING  THE  REBEL  STATES  TO  FULL  POLITICAL  RIGHTS. 
Mr.  Stevens'  report  from  the  Joint  Committee  on  Reconstruction. — Mr. 
Boutwell  gave  notice  of  an  amendment. — Mr.  Wilson's  amendment. 
Mr.  Stevens'  amendment. — Mr.  Ashley's  substitute  for  Mr.  Stevens' 
amendment. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Stevens,  Mr.  Baker,  Mr.  Grinnell. 
Speech  of  Mr.  Eldridge,  Mr.  Scofield.— Remarks  of  Mr.  Dodge.— 
Mr.  Raymond's  speech. — Speech  of  Mr.  Shellabarger. — Mr.  Sheila- 
barge  r's  substitute. — Mr.  Bingham's  motion. 314 

CHAPTER   XVI. 

CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  LOUISIANA. 

Mr.  Eliot's  report  from  the  Committee  on  the  New  Orleans  riot. — Mr. 
Beyer's  minority  report. — Mr.  Eliot's  Bill  for  the  reestablishment  of 
Civil  Government. — Provisions  of  the  Bill.— Bill  passed. — Motion  of 


CONTEXTS.  XI 

PAGE. 

Mr.  Wade. — Mr.  Sumner's  amendment. — Remarks  of  Mr.  McDougall. 
Remarks  of  Mr.  Wilson. — The  Bill  not  further  considered.         -        -  329 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

FOR  THE  MORE  EFFICIENT  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  REBEL  STATES. 

Mr.  Williams'  Bill.— Speech  of  Mr.  Brandegee,  Mr.  Le  Blond,  Mr.  Inger- 
soll,  Mr.  Rogers,  Mr.  Thayer,  Mr.  Shellabarger,  Mr.  Garfield.— Re 
marks  of  Mr.  Stevens  and  Mr.  Banks. — Mr.  Kasson's  amendment. — 
Remarks  of  Mr.  Boutwell. — Mr.  Biugham's  amendment. — Speech  of 
Mr.  Kelley,  Mr.  Allison,  Mr.  Maynard. — Mr.  Elaine's  amendment. 
Mr.  Stevens'  amendment. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Schenck  and  Mr.  Bing- 
ham. — Passage  of  the  Bill. — Senate — Mr.  Williams'  amendment. — Mr. 
Wilson's  amendment. — Mr.  Frelinghuysen's  motion  to  amend  the 
amendment. — Mr.  Henderson's  amendment. — Mr.  Merrill's  amend 
ment. — Mr.  Sherman's  amendment. — Substitute  agreed  to. — Passage 
of  the  Bill. — House — Remarks  of  Mr.  Stevens,  Mr.  Boutwell,  Mr. 
Blaine,  Mr.  Bingham,  Mr.  Farnsworth,  Mr.  Garfield  and  Mr.  Baker. 
Committee  of  Conference  agreed  to. — Mr.  Shellabarger's  motion. 
Concurrence  of  the  House. — Senate. — Mr.  Wilson's  amendment. — 
Senate  concurred. — Passage  of  the  Bill. — The  veto  message. — Pas 
sage  of  the  Bill  over  the  veto. 334 

CHAPTER   XVIII 

TO  FACILITATE  RESTORATION. 

Mr.  Wilson's  bill  to  facilitate  Restoration. — Referred  to  Committee  on 
the  Judiciary. — Mr.  Sumner's  resolution.— Mr.  Kelley's  resolution. 
Report  of  Mr.  Wilson  of  Iowa. — Motion  to  recommit  to  the  Com 
mittee  on  the  Judiciary.— Passage  of  the  Bill.— Senate— Speech  of 
Mr.  Trumbull,  Mr.  Drake,  Mr.  Fessenden.— Mr.  Drake's  amendment. 
Speech  of  Mr.  Wilson.— Mr.  Fessenden's  amendment.— Remarks  of 
Mr.  Wilson,  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  Mr.  Nye.— Mr.  Howe's  amendment. 
Mr.  Howard's  amendment.— Remarks  of  Mr.  Morrill.— Mr.  Sumner's 
amendment. — Mr.  Norton's  amendment. — Mr.  Wilson's  amendment. 
Mr.  Edmunds'  amendment.— Mr.  Howard's  amendment.— Mr.  Sum 
ner's  amendment.— Remarks  of  Mr.  Sumner,  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  Mr. 
Stewart.— Passage  of  the  Bill.— House— Remarks  of  Mr.  Wilson.— 
House  amendment  considered  in  the  Senate. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Wil 
son,  Mr.  Johnson,  Mr.  Drake,  Mr.  Norton  and  Mr.  Edmunds.— 
House — Committee  of  Conference.— Report  concurred  in. — The  Presi 
dent's  Veto. — Passage  of  the  Bill. 385 


Xll  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

GOVERNMENT  AND  RESTORATION  OF  REBEL  STATES. 

Mr.  Wilson's  Bill. — Mr.  Edmunds'  Bill. — Mr.  Frelinghuysen's  Bill. — Mr. 
Trumbull  reported  bill  from  Judiciary  Committee. — House. — Com 
mittee  appointed  on  motion  of  Mr.  Stevens. — Mr.  Stevens'  Bill. — Mr. 
Wilson's  amendment. — Mr.  Benjamin's  amendment.— Passage  of  the 
Bill. — Senate. — Bill  reported  by  Mr.  Trumbull. — Mr.  Wilson's  amend- 
ment. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Conkling,  Mr.  Edmunds,  Mr.  Howe. — Mr. 
Wilson's  amendment. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Yates,  Mr.  Wilson,  Mr.  Mor- 
rill,  Mr.  Howard. — Mr.  Wilson's  amendment. — Motion  of  Mr.  Howe. 
Mr.  Drake's  amendment. — Mr.  Howard's  amendment  agreed  to. — 
Passage  of  the  Bill. — House. — Report  of  Mr.  Stevens. — Remarks  of 
Mr.  Wood,  Mr.  Logan. — The  Senate  amendment  concurred  in. — Presi 
dent's  Veto  Message. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Boutwell,  Mr.  Butler,  Mr. 
Stevens. — Passage  of  the  Bill  over  the  Veto.  -----  429 


CHAPTER  XX. 

DISBANDMENT  OF  REBEL   MILITIA.— ABOLITION  OF  WHIPPING 
AND  PEONAGE. 

Mr.  Wilson's  Joint  Resolution  to  disband  rebel  Militia. — Remarks  of 
Mr.  Buckalew,  Mr.  Wilson,  Mr.  Lane. — Mr.  Hendrick's  motion  to 
strike  out,  agreed  to. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Fessenden,  Mr.  Wilson,  Mr. 
Hendricks,  Mr.  Willey. — Subject  incorporated  with  Appropriation 
Bill. — Passage  of  the  Bill. — Concurrence  of  the  House. — Mr.  Wilson's 
Joint  Resolution  to  abolish  corporeal  punishment. — Reported  from 
Judiciary  Committee. — General  Sickles'  order  revoked  by  the  Presi 
dent. — The  subject  reported  from  Military  Committee  in  a  Bill  to 
increase  pay  of  Army  Officers. — Motion  of  Mr.  Hendricks  to  strike 
out,  agreed  to — Inserted  as  an  amendment  to  appropriation  bill  and 
passed. — Mr.  Wilson's  Bill  to  strike  out  the  word  "  white  "  from  the 
Militia  Laws. — Its  passage. — Mr.  Sumuer's  Resolution  respecting 
Peonage. — Mr.  Wilson's  Bill. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Davis,  Mr.  Lane,  Mr. 
Doolittle  and  Mr.  Buckalew. — Passage  of  the  Bill. — Proclamation  of 
the  Governor  of  New  Mexico. 460 


o- 

UNIVE3S 


KECONSTRUOTIOK 


CHAPTER  L 

RECONSTRUCTION  COMMITTEE. 

The  38th  Congress  expired. — The  39th  met. — Mr.  Stevens'  Resolution. — 
Mr.  Eldridge. — Mr.  Dawson. — Resolution  passed. — Resolution  considered 
in  caucus — Resolution  taken  up  in  the  Senate. — Motion  of  Mr.  Anthony 
to  amend. — Mr.  Howard's  speech. — Mr.  Anthony's  speech. — Mr.  Doolit- 
tle's  speech. — Mr.  Fessenden's  speech. — Amendment  agreed  to. — Mr. 
Cowan  moved  to  amend. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Saulsbury,  Mr.  EJendricks, 
and  Mr.  Trumbull. — Mr.  Dixon. — Speech  of  Mr.  Guthrie. — Amendment 
rejected. — Mr.  Stevens. — Joint  Committee. — Resolution,  Mr.  Wilson  of 
Iowa. — Mr.  Anthony  and  Mr.  Cowan. — Speech  of  Mr.  Howe. — Mr.  John 
son's  speech.— Mr.  Doolittle'a  speech.— Mr.  Nesmith's  speech. — Mr.  Wade's 
speech.— Mr.  Howe's  speech. 

THE  38th  Congress  expired  on  the  3rd  of  March, 
1865,  and  the  39th  Congress  met  on  the  4th  of 
December.  The  intervening  months  had  been 
crowded  with  great  events.  The  rebel  armies  had 
been  defeated,  and  the  power  of  the  Rebellion 
crushed.  The  Confederate  Government  had  disap 
peared;  its  armed  forces  had  been  captured,  pa- 
rolled  and  disbanded  ,•  hostilities  had  ceased  and  the 
triumph  of  the  nation  was  complete.  Upheld  by 
thousands  of  bayonets,  its  flag  waved  over  the  sub 
jugated  states,  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  vet- 


14  BECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

erans  had  returned  to  their  homes,  to  engage  again 
in  the  productive  pursuits  of  peace. 

The  legitimate  work  of  armies  had  ended,  and  the 
crowning  wrork  of  statesmen  had  begun.  To  re 
construct  the  Union,  so  as  to  secure  the  fruits  of 
victory  was  no  easy  task.  The  enduring  interests 
of  the  Nation  seemed  imperatively  to  demand  that 
the  equality  of  rights  and  privileges  of  all  citizens, 
without  distinction  of  race,  color  or  previous  con 
dition,  should  be  secured  and  the  ascendency  of  loy 
alty  assured.  This  great  work  demanded  patience, 
foresight  and  the  highest  qualities  of  statesman 
ship. 

Had  the  President,  Congress  and  the  loyal  peo- 
pie  acted  in  complete  harmony,  the  temper  of  the 
people  of  the  rebel  states,  and  the  disordered  con 
dition  of  these  states,  together  with  the  emancipa 
tion  of  more  than  three  million  slaves,  and  the 
losses,  poverty  and  suffering  of  the  masses,  would 
have  made  the  work  of  a  reconstruction,  which 
should  bring  peace,  order,  law  and  security,  one  of 
great  delicacy  and  difficulty.  But  the  task  of  re 
construction  had  been  complicated  by  the  Presi 
dent  ;  he  had  early  entered  upon  what  he  called  an 
experiment,  but  he  soon  came  to  regard  that  ex 
periment  as  a  governmental  policy.  The  Republi 
cans  deemed  the  experiment  premature,  and  the 
policy  wholly  inadequate  to  meet  the  wants  of  the 
country.  That  policy  had  resulted,  as  the  leading 
Republicans  warned  the  President  it  would  result, 


IN   CONGRESS.  15 

in  the  complete  ascendency  of  the  rebels.  On  the 
day  the  39th  Congress  assembled,  the  rebel  states 
had  passed  or  were  passing  into  the  control  of  men 
who  had  engaged  in  the  Rebellion,  and  who  regret 
ted  nothing  but  the  losses  and  the  failure  of  their 
cause.  In  their  legislation  and  administration,  they 
evinced  a  determined  purpose  to  keep  the  men  who 
had  been  loyal  to  their  country  during  the  Rebel 
lion,  from  any  participation  in  their  affairs,  and  to 
continue  the  freedmen  under  disabilities.  The 
manifest  determination  of  the  President  to  adhere 
to  his  policy,  although  it  was  apparently  condemned 
by  the  masses  of  the  party  which  had  elected  him, 
encouraged  a  spirit  of  defiance  in  the  rebel  states, 
that  often  displayed  itself  in  insult  to  loyal  men, 
and  in  cruel  and  oppressive  acts  towards  the  freed 
men. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives,  on  the  first  day 
of  the  session,  Mr.  Stevens  of  Penn.  asked  consent 
to  introduce  a  joint  resolution;  it  provided  that  "a 
joint  committee  of  fifteen  members  shall  be  ap 
pointed,  nine  of  whom  shall  be  members  of  the 
House,  and  six,  members  of  the  Senate,  who  shall 
inquire  into  the  condition  of  the  States  which  form 
ed  the  so-called  confederate  States  of  America,  and 
report  whether  they,  or  any  of  them,  are  entitled  to 
be  represented  in  either  House  of  Congress,  with 
leave  to  report  at  any  time  by  bill  or  otherwise ; 
and  until  such  report  shall  have  been  made,  and 
finally  acted  upon  by  Congress,  no  member  shall  be 


16  RECONSTRUCTION  MEASURES 

received  into  either  House  from  any  of  the  said  so- 
called  confederate  States ;  and  all  papers  relating  to 
the  representation  of  the  said  States,  shall  be  refer 
red  to  the  said  committee  without  debate."  Mr. 
Eldridge  of  Wisconsin  objecting,  Mr.  Stevens  moved 
a  suspension  of  the  rules,  and  they  were  suspended 
by  129  Yeas  to  35  Nays.  Mr.  Dawson  of  Penn. 
then  moved  that  the  Resolution  be  laid  upon  the 
table,  but  the  motion  was  rejected,  Yeas  31,  Nays 
133 ;  and  the  resolution  was  passed,  Yeas  133,  Nays 
36. 

This  resolution  for  the  appointment  of  a  joint 
special  Committee  on  reconstruction,  was  consider 
ed  in  a  caucus  of  the  Republican  Senators,  and 
after  a  debate  in  which  several  Senators  participa 
ted,  certain  amendments  were  agreed  to  and  Mr. 
Anthony  of  Rhode  Island,  chairman  of  the  caucus, 
was  directed  to  move  those  amendments  in  the 
Senate.  On  the  12th  the  resolution  was  taken  up, 
and  on  motion  of  Mr.  Anthony,  the  enacting  clause 
was  amended  so  as  to  make  it  a  concurrent,  instead 
of  a  joint  Resolution.  Mr.  Anthony,  then  moved 
to  amend  the  Resolution,  by  striking  out  so  much 
of  it,  as  provided  that,  until  the  Committee  should 
make  their  final  report,  and  it  should  be  acted  on 
by  Congress,  no  member  should  be  received  in  eith 
er  House  from  any  of  the  rebel  states,  and  that  all 
papers  relating  to  the  representation  of  those  states, 
should  be  referred  to  the  committee  without  de 
bate.  Mr.  Howard  of  Michigan,  could  not  vote  for 


IN   CONGRESS.  17 

the  amendment.  "I  think/'  he  said,  "that  under 
present  circumstances  it  is  due  to  the  country  that 
we  should  give  them  the  assurance,  such  as  the 
House  of  Representatives  has  given  in  the  resolu 
tion  they  have  sent  to  us,  that  we  will  not  thus 
hastily  readmit  to  seats  in  the  legislative  bodies 
here,  the  representatives  of  constituencies,  who  are 
still  hostile  to  the  authority  of  the  United  States, 
and  unwilling  to  co-operate  with  us  in  our  legisla 
tion.  I  think,  sir,  that  such  constituencies  are  not 
entitled  to  be  represented  here."  Mr.  Anthony 
supposing  the  amendment  would  not  provoke  op 
position,  had  foreborne  to  state  the  reasons  for 
making  it ;  he  agreed  with  Mr.  Howard  that  it  was 
eminently  desirable  that  both  Houses  should  act  in 
concert  in  all  measures  for  reconstruction,  and  that 
all  branches  of  the  Government  should  approach  the 
question  with  a  comprehensive  patriotism,  and  all 
persons  in  every  branch  of  the  Government  should 
be  ready  to  concede  something  of  their  own  views, 
in  order  to  meet  the  views  of  those,  wrho  were 
equally  charged  with  the  responsibility  of  public 
affairs.  The  words  proposed  to  be  stricken  out  re 
ferred  to  the  joint  committee  of  the  two  Houses, 
matters,  which  the  Constitution  confided  to  each 
House  separately.  "  In  the  watches  of  this  Cham 
ber,"  said  Mr.  Anthony,  "I  have  often  wished  that 
some  divine  power  would  temper  the  strength  of 
lungs  in  the  speaker,  to  the  endurance  of  the  ears 
of  the  hearers ;  but  the  opinion  of  the  Senate  on 
2 


18  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

that  point  has  been  too  often,  and  too  decidedly,  ex 
pressed,  to  leave  any  doubt  of  its  policy ;  therefore, 
I  thought  it  was  best  that  that  portion  of  the  reso 
lution  should  be  stricken  out.  The  purpose  of  all 
that  is  stricken  out,  can  be  effected  by  the  separate 
action  of  the  two  Houses,  if  they  shall  so  elect. 
The  House  of  Eepresentatives  having  passed  this 
resolution  by  a  great  vote,  will  undoubtedly  adopt, 
in  a  separate  resolution  what  is  here  stricken  out ; 
and  except  so  far  as  relates  to  the  credentials  of 
Senators,  and  so  far  as  relates  to  the  restriction 
upon  debate,  I  shall,  if  this  amendment  be  adopted 
and  the  resolution  passed,  offer  a  resolution  substan 
tially  declaring  it  to  be  the  opinion  of  the  Senate 
that,  until  this  committee  reports,  presuming  it  will 
report  in  a  reasonable  time,  no  action  should  be 
taken  upon  the  representation  of  the  States  lately 
in  rebellion." 

Mr.  Doolittle  of  Wisconsin,  thought  all  questions 
concerning  reconstruction,  and  the  restoration  of 
civil  government  in  the  Southern  States,  ought  to 
be  referred  to  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary.  He 
maintained,  that  the  Senate  could  not  give  a  Com 
mittee  beyond  its  control,  the  question  of  repre 
sentation  without  a  loss  of  its  self  respect,  dignity 
and  independence ;  without  an  abandonment  of  its 
constitutional  duty  and  a  surrender  of  its  constitu 
tional  power.  The  Senate  was  to  be  led  like  a 
lamb  to  the  slaughter,  bound  hand  and  foot,  shorn 
of  its  constitutional  power  and  gagged  dumb.  "  The 


IN   CONGRESS.  19 

Senator  for  Michigan,"  said  Mr.  Doolittle,  "talks 
about  the  status  of  these  States.  He  may  very 
properly  raise  the  question,  whether  they  have  any 
Legislatures  that  are  capable  of  electing  Senators 
to  this  body.  That  is  a  question  of  fact,  to  be  con 
sidered  ;  but  as  to  whether  they  are  States,  and 
States  still  within  the  Union,  notwithstanding  their 
civil  form  of  government  has  been  overturned  by 
the  rebellion  and  their  Legislatures  have  been  disor 
ganized  —  that  they  are  still  States  in  this  Union  is 
the  most  sacred  truth,  and  the  dearest  truth,  to  every 
American  heart,  and  it  will  be  maintained  by  the 
American  people  against  all  opposition,  come  from 
what  quarter  it  may.  Sir,  the  flag  that  now  floats 
on  the  top  of  this  Capitol  bears  thirty-six  stars. 
Every  star  represents  a  State  in  this  Union.  I  ask 
the  Senator  from  Michigan,  does  that  flag,  as  it 
floats  there,  speak  the  nation's  truth  to  our  people 
and  to  the  world,  or  is  it  a  hypocritical,  flaunting 
lie  ?  That  flag  has  been  borne  at  the  head  of  our 
conquering  legions  through  the  whole  South,  plani>- 
ed  at  Vicksburg,  planted  at  Columbia,  Savannah, 
Charleston,  Sumter  ;  the  same  old  flag  which  came 
down  before  the  rebellion  at  Sumter  was  raised 
up  again,  and  it  still  bore  the  same  glorious  stars; 
'not  a  star  obscured,'  not  one." 

Mr.  Fessenden  of  Maine,  was  sorry  the  debate 
had  sprung  up  ;  he  thought  it  out  of  place  in  re 
gard  to  the  manner  in  which  it  had  been  conduct 
ed,  but  some  things  foreign  to  the  question  had 


ITY 


20  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

been  introduced  which  ought  not  to  pass  without  a 
little  comment.  He  said  when  this  resolution  "  was 
first  promulgated  in  the  newspapers  as  having  been 
agreed  upon,  I  approved  it  because  I  sympathized 
with  its  object  and  purpose.  I  did  not  examine  it 
particularly;  but,  looking  simply  at  what  it  was 
designed  for,  it  met  my  approbation  simply  for  this 
reason:  that  this  question  of  readmission,  if  you 
please  to  call  it  so,  of  these  confederate  States,  so 
called,  and  all  the  questions  connected  with  that 
subject,  I  conceived  to  be  of  infinite  importance, 
requiring  calm  and  serious  consideration,  and  I  be 
lieved  that  the  appointment  of  a  committee,  carefully 
selected  by  the  two  Houses,  to  take  that  subject 
into  consideration,  was  not  only  wise  in  itself,  but 
;an  imperative  duty  resting  upon  the  representa 
tives  of  the  people  in  the  two  branches  of  Con 
gress.  For  myself,  I  was  not  prepared  to  act  upon 
that  question  at  once.  I  am  not  one  of  those 
who  pin  their  faith  upon  anybody,  however  eminent 
in  position,  or  conceive  themselves  obliged,  on  a 
question  of  great  national  importance,  to  follow  out 
anybody's  opinions  simply  because  he  is  in  a  position 
to  make  those  opinions,  perhaps,  somewhat  more 
imperative  than  any  other  citizen  of  the  Kepublic. 
Talk  about  the  Administration !  Sir,  we  are  a  part 
of  the  Administration,  and  a  very  important  part 
of  it.  I  have  no  idea  of  abandoning  the  preroga 
tives,  the  rights,  and  the  duties  of  my  position  in 
favor  of  anybody,  however  that  person  or  any  num- 


IN   CONGRESS.  21 

ber  of  persons  may  desire  it.  In  saying  this,  I  am 
not  about  to  express  an  opinion  upon  the  subject 
any  further  than  I  have  expressed  it,  and  that  is, 
that  in  questions  of  such  infinite  importance  as  this,, 
involving  the  integrity  and  welfare  of  the  Repub 
lic  in  all  future  time,  we  are  solemnly  bound,  and 
our  constituents  will  demand  of  us,  that  we  examine 
them  with  care  and  fidelity,  and  act  on  our  own 
convictions,  and  not  upon  the  convictions  of  others/* 

After  reading  the  resolution  carefully,  Mr.  Fes- 
senden  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  went  too  far, 
and  he  was  in  favor  of  amending  it  as  proposed  by 
Mr.  Anthony.  He  did  not  agree  with  the  doctrine 
and  he  entered  his  dissent  to  it,  that  because  a  certain 
line  of  policy  had  been  pursued  by  one  branch  of 
the  Government,  therefore  for  that  reason  alone,  it 
was  to  be  tried  by  the  other  branch.  Mr.  Anthony's 
amendment  was  agreed  to. 

Mr.  Cowan  of  Penn,  moved  to  amend  the  bill  so 
that  there  should  be  six  members  on  the  part  of 
the  House  instead  of  nine ;  but  the  amendment 
was  rejected  ;  Yeas  14,  Nays  29.  The  resolution 
was  briefly  opposed  by  Mr.  Saulsbury  of  Delaware, 
and  Mr.  Hendricks  of  Indiana,  and  advocated  by 
Mr.  Trumbull  of  Illinois. 

Mr.  Dixon  of  Connecticut,  moved  to  amend  the 
resolution  by  providing  that  it  should  not  be  so 
construed  as  to  limit,  restrict  or  impair  the  right 
of  each  House  to  judge  of  the  elections  of  its  own 
members.  Mr.  Guthrie  of  Kentucky  saw  no  neces- 


22  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

sity  for  a  committee, — it  could  give  no  information 
which  was  not  in  possession  of  the  Senate.  "  I 
know/'  said  Mr.  Guthrie,  "it  has  been  said  that  the 
President  had  no  authority  to  do  these  things.  I 
read  the  Constitution  and  the  laws  of  this  country 
differently.  He  is  to  'take  care  that  the  laws  be 
faithfully  executed;'  he  is  to  suppress  insurrection 
and  rebellion.  The  power  is  put  in  his  hands,  and 
I  do  not  see  why,  when  he  marches  into  a  rebel 
State,  he  has  not  authority  to  put  down  a  rebel 
government  and  put  up  a  government  that  is 
friendly  to  the  United  States,  and  in  accordance 
with  it ;  I  do  not  see  why  he  cannot  do  that  while 
the  war  goes  on,  and  I  do  not*  see  why  he  may  not 
do  it  after  the  war  is  over.  The  people  in  those 
States  lie  at  the  mercy  of  the  nation.  I  see  no 
usurpation  in  what  he  has  done,  and  if  the  work  is 
well  done,  I,  for  one,  am  ready  to  accept  it."  Mr. 
Dixon's  amendment  was  then  rejected,  Yeas  12, 
Nays  31.  The  question  was  then  taken  on  the 
adoption  of  the  resolution  as  amended,  and  it  was 
passed,  Yeas  33,  Nays  11. 

The  House,  on  the  loth,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Ste 
vens,  concurred  in  the  amendment  of  the  Senate, 
so  the  Eesolution  provided  that  a  joint  committee 
of  fifteen  members  should  be  appointed,  nine  of 
whom  should  be  members  of  the  House  and  six 
members  of  the  Senate,  who  should  inquire  into 
the  condition  of  the  States  which  formed  the  so- 
called  confederate  States  of  America,  and  report 


IN   CONGRESS.  23 

whether  they,  or  any  of  them,  were  entitled  to  be 
represented  in  either  House  of  Congress,  with  leave 
to  report  at  any  time  by  bill  or  otherwise. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Anthony,  the  President  pro 
tern  of  the  Senate  was  authorized  to  appoint  the 
Committee,  and  Mr.  Foster  appointed  Mr.  Fessen- 
den  of  Maine,  Mr.  Howard  of  Michigan,  Mr.  Grimes 
of  Iowa,  Mr.  Harris  of  New  York,  Mr.  Williams  of 
Oregon,  and  Mr.  Johnson  of  Maryland,  members  of 
the  Committee  on  the  part  of  the  Senate,  and 
Speaker  Colfax  appointed  Messrs.  Thaddeus  Ste 
vens  of  Penn.,  Elihu  B.  Washburne  of  Illinois, 
Justin  S.  Morrill  of  Vermont,  Henry  Grider  of  Ken 
tucky,  John  A.  Bingham  of  Ohio,  Eoscoe  Conkling 
of  New  York,  George  S.  Boutwell  of  Massachusetts, 
Henry  T.  Blow  of  Missouri,  and  Andrew  J.  .Rogers 
of  New  Jersey,  members  of  the  Committee  on  the 
part  of  the  House.  This  joint  special  Committee, 
made  up  as  it  was  of  men  of  talent,  experience  and 
character,  was  calculated  to  command  in  advance 
the  confidence  of  Congress  and  of  the  loyal  people 
of  the  country. 

On  the  14th,  the  House  on  motion  of  Mr.  Wilson 
of  Iowa,  adopted  by  107  Yeas  to  56  Nays,  a  reso 
lution  that  all  papers  which  may  be  offered  relative 
to  the  representation  of  the  late  so-called  confed 
erate  States  of  America,  or  either  of  them,  shall  be 
referred  to  the  joint  committee  of  fifteen  without 
debate,  and  no  members  shall  be  admitted  from 
either  of  said  so-called  States  until  Congress  shall 


24  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

declare  such  States  or  either   of  them  entitled  to 
representation. 

In  the  Senate  on  the  19th,  Mr.  Anthony  submit 
ted  a  resolution  providing  "that  until  otherwise 
ordered,  all  papers  presented  to  the  Senate,  relating 
to  the  condition  and  title  to  representation  of  the 
so-called  confederate  States,  shall  be  referred  to 
the  joint  committee  upon  that  subject;"  but  Mr. 
Cowan  objecting,  it  was  not  considered  at  that 
time. 

In  the  Senate,  on  the  10th  of  January  1866,  Mr. 
Howe  of  Wisconsin  introduced  a  joint  resolution 
setting  forth  that  the  people   of  the   rebel  States 
had  abjured  duties,  had  waged  war,    whereby  the 
political  functions  granted  to  them  had  been  sus 
pended,  that  such  functions  could  not  be   restored 
with  safety  to  the  nation,  and  that  military  tribu 
nals  were  not  suited  to  the    exercise   of  civil  au 
thority,  and  therefore  the  local  governments  ought 
to  be  provisionally  organized.     Mr.  Howe  then  ad 
dressed  the  Senate  in  a  speech  of  rare  logic,  power 
and  beauty,  in  vindication  of  the  doctrines  embod 
ied  in  his  preamble  and  resolution.     Mr.  Howe  com 
menced  his  elaborate   speech  by  saying,    "When 
Paul  stood  there  <in  the  midst  of  Mars  Hill/  a  needy, 
perhaps  a  ragged  missionary,  and  told  the  indolent, 
idolatrous  and  luxurious  Athenians  that  God  had 
'made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men,  to  dwell  on 
the  face  of  the  earth,'  do  you  believe  he  was  play 
ing  the  demagogue  or  not  ?     When  the    Congress 


IN   CONGRESS.  25 

of  1776  assembled  in  Independence  Hall,  repre 
senting  a  constituency  few  in  numbers,  poor  in  re 
sources,  strong  only  in  their  convictions  of  right, 
and  announced  to  the  world  that '  all  men  are  crea 
ted  equal ;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator 
with  certain  inalienable  rights ;  that  among  these 
are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness ;  that 
to  secure  these  rights  governments  are  instituted 
among  men ;'  and  when  the  members  of  that  Con 
gress  pledged  their  '  lives,  their  fortunes,  and  their 
sacred  honor"  to  maintain  those  assertions  against 
the  whole  power  of  the  British  empire,  do  you 
really  suppose  they  were  talking  for  bunkum  or 
not  ?  And  when  the  American  people  declared  in 
their  organic  law  that — 

'This  Constitution,  and  the  laws  of  the  United 
States  which  shall  be  made  in  pursuance  thereof, 
and  all  treaties  made,  or  which  shall  be  made,  un 
der  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  the 
supreme  law  of  the  land ;  and  the  judges  in  every 
State  shall  be  bound  thereby,  anything  in  the  con 
stitution  or  laws  of  any  State  to  the  contrary  not 
withstanding  ' — 

do  you  think  they  actually  meant  that,  or  did  they 
mean  that  the  constitution  and  laws  of  each  State 
should  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  land,  anything 
in  the  Constitution  or  laws  of  the  United  States  to 
the  contrary  notwithstanding  ? 

I  have  put  these  questions,  because  however 
generally  we  may  assent  to  these  propositions  in 


26  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

our  speech,  there  are  scarcely  three  theses  in  the 
whole  field  of  discussion  more  flatly  denied  practi 
cally  than  these  three. 

We  do  very  generally  admit  Paul  to  have  been  a 
minister  of  the  true  religion,  and  yet  if  he  had  pro 
claimed  in  the  Smithsonian  Institute  six  years  ago 
what  he  did  in  the  Areopagus  at  Athens,  he  would 
have  been  driven  out  of  the  city. 

We  do  with  our  lips  very  generally  assent  to  the 
doctrines  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and 
yet  when  the  American  auto-da-fe  kindles  its  hottest 
fires  it  is  to  roast  some  reckless  radical  who  dares 
to  assert  the  political  equality  of  men. 

We  cannot  well  deny  that  the  Constitution  is  the 
supreme  law  of  the  land,  because  the  Constitution 
says  so,  and  we  have  sworn  to  support  it ;  but  prac 
tically  we  do  seem  to  treat  it  much  as  if  every  law 
was  supreme  but  that. 

I  cannot  now  afford  the  time  to  defend  the  teach 
ings  of  the  apostle  or  the  doctrines  of  the  Declara 
tion.  But  if  it  will  not  annoy  the  Senate,  I  would 
like  to  make  a  few  remarks  in  vindication  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

In  my  judgment,  Mr.  President,  it  is  time  the 
American  people  adopted  the  Constitution.  We 
have,  indeed,  been  taking  the  tincture  for  nearly  a 
century.  I  am  sure  it  has  done  us  great  good.  I 
believe  now  we  should  try  the  sublimate,  and  I  am 
confident  it  would  cure  the  nation.  Hitherto  we 
have  taken  the  Constitution  in  a  solution  of  the 


IN   CONGRESS.  27 

spirit  of  State  rights.  Let  us  now  take  it  as  it  is, 
sublimed  and  crystalized,  in  the  flames  of  the  most 
gigantic  war  of  history."  Mr.  Howe  said  it  had 
been  declared  that  the  nation  had  fought  this  gigan 
tic  war,  not  to  make  rebels  obey  the  United  States, 
but  to  make  them  govern  their  own  states ;  there 
were  but  two  parties  then,  one  endeavoring  to  awe 
the  Government  with  professions  of  defiance,  and 
the  other  to  cheat  it  with  professions  of  friendship. 
"  I  therefore  conclude,"  said  Mr.  Howe,  "  that  upon 
every  consideration,  both  of  national  honor,  of  na 
tional  safety,  and  of  local  interest,  Congress  ought 
not  yet  to  restore  the  suspended  functions  of  those 
rebelling  States. 

But  it  is  said,  such  is  the  policy  of  the  President, 
and  my  colleague  exhorts  us  in  vehement  terms  to 
6;  stand  by  the  President  and  to  uphold  his  hand." 
Why,  sir,  I  desire  to  say  to  my  colleague,  and  to 
the  President,  if  he  will  listen,  that  we  will  stand 
by  him  if  he  will  stand  by  the  United  States.  I 
desire  to  remind  my  colleague,  and  the  President, 
if  he  will  listen,  that  we  have  stood  by  him  because 

he  did  stand  by  the  United  States. 

#####         #        *        # 

And  let  who  will  come  and  tell  me  the  President 
would  surrender  one  of  the  choicest  prerogatives  of 
the  national  supremacy,  and  would  surrender  the 
protection  of  its  freedmen,  its  heroic  soldiers,  and 
its  faithful  friends  to  their  direst  enemies,  I  will  be 
lieve  no  tongue  but  the  President's.  Whatever 


28  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

may  be  thought  of  what  he  has  already  done,  it 
should  be  remembered  he  has  not  acted  in  defiance 
of  congressional  direction,  but  in  want  of  it — a 
want  which  I  have  often  urged  the  Senate  to  at 
tempt  to  supply. 

Besides,  sir,  if  I  knew  that  the  President  differed 
from  the  views  I  have  here  advanced,  I  cannot  for 
get  it  was  Wisconsin  that  placed  me  here  and  not 
the  President. 

Mr.  Howe  closed  by  saying,  "I  know  of  noth 
ing  in  the  life  of  Christ  more  touching,  or,  if  you 
think  of  it,  more  terrible,  than  that  scene  narrated 
by  His  first  biographer  when,  standing  in  the  tern-} 
pie  and  contemplating  the  great  destruction  that 
was  soon  to  overtake  the  city,  He  exclaimed : 

'0  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  thou  that  killest  the 
prophets,  and  stonest  them  which  are  sent  unto  thee, 
how  often  would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  to 
gether,  even  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens  under 
her  wings,  and  ye  would  not! 

< Behold,  your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate/ 
And  when  I  remember  how  the  Almighty  has 
held  us  by  the  hand  during  the  late  deadly  struggle, 
how  He  has  led  us  more  visibly  than  He   ever  did 
any  other  people  since  He  guided  the  Isarelites  out 
of  Egypt ;  how  we  in  these  very  days   have  seen 
Him  again  part  the  Red  sea  that  this  nation  might 
walk  through  dry;  and  when  I  contemplate  thex, 
possibility  that  we  may  refuse  after  all  to  cross  the 
river  of  prejudice  that  lies  before  us,  that  we  may 


IN   CONGRESS.  29 

not  be  able  even  now  to  cast  off  the  idea  that '  they 
are  all  giants'  on  the  other  side,  that  we  may  not 
after  all  dare  to  be  sensible,  that  we  may  leave  those 
who  have  been  sent  to  us  to  be  stoned  by  their 
enemies,  I  sometimes  think  I  hear  the  same  Jesus 
bending  from  the  great  white  throne,  where  He 
sitteth  evermore  by  the  side  of  the  Father,  and  ex 
claiming  with  the  same  infinite  tenderness,  0 
America,  America,  how  often  would  I  have  gather 
ed  thy  children  together,  even  as  a  hen  gathereth 
her  chickens  under  her  wings,  and  ye  would  not ; 
henceforth  your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate. 

I  move  that  this  resolution,  if  there  is  no  occa 
sion  for  its  further  consideration  at  present,  be  re 
ferred  to  the  joint  committee  on  reconstruction." 

On  the  llth  the  debate  on  Mr.  Howe's  resolution 
was  resumed  by  Mr.  Johnson  of  Maryland ;  he  coin- 
batted  the  doctrines  embodied  in  the  resolution, 
and  replied  to  Mr.  Howe's  speech  with  great  clear 
ness  and  force.  He  maintained  that  the  power 
actually  given  to  Congress,  "was  a  power  to  pre 
serve,  not  to  destroy ;  a  power  to  maintain,  not  to 
extinguish  ;  a  power  to  make  the  Government*  what 
the  preamble  to  the  Constitution  states  to  be  the 
purpose  of  its  framers,  perpetual ;  a  Government 
for  the  security  of  liberty  for  themselves  and  their 
posterity  forever.  It  would  have  been  an  extraor 
dinary  anomaly,  one  that  would  justly  have  de 
prived  its  authors  of  the  reputation  that  they  now 
hold  in  the  eyes  of  the  civilized  world,  if,  in  form- 


30  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

ing  a  Government  they  designed  to  be  perpetual, 
they  had  given  it  a  power  to  destroy  itself.  The 
purpose,  then,  of  the  war  power,  strictly  speaking, 
and  of  the  police  power  conferred  upon  Congress 
by  that  clause  in  the  eighth  section  of  the  first 
article,  was  to  preserve,  and  not  to  destroy ;  to  pre 
serve  it  if  assailed  by  a  foreign  foe ;  to  preserve  it 

if  assailed  by  domestic  treason  or  violence. 
******** 

The  States  ceased  to  exist  by  virtue  of  the  con 
duct  of  their  own  citizens,  is  the  argument.  What 
conduct,  and  when  had  it  that  effect  ?  They  pass 
ed  ordinances  of  secession.  Were  these  valid? 
Had  they  any  legal  operation  whatever  ?  Did  they 
take  the  States  whose  people  had  passed  such  ordi 
nances  out  of  the  Union?  Did  they  dissolve  the 
connection  to  any  extent  which  existed  as  between 
those  States  and  the  Union  by  force  of  the  Consti 
tution  ?  If  they  did,  it  can  only  be  because  the 
ordinances  were  valid.  The  States  are  out,  says  the 
honorable  Senator  from  Wisconsin,  because  their 
people  determined  that  they  should  go  out ;  they 
are  out,  because  they  were  so  far  disloyal  as  to  de 
clare  by  ordinance  that  they  were  out ;  they  are 
out  because  they  are  still  disloyal,  although  the  in 
surrection  has  been  in  fact  suppressed  and  the  au 
thority  of  the  Government  reinstated.  Well,  if 
they  are,  why  is  that  the  result  ?  If  the  ordinan 
ces  were  void,  they  could  not  take  them  out.  If 
the  citizens  had  not  a  right  to  be  disloyal  their  dis- 


IN   CONGRESS.  31 

loyalty  could  not  put  them  out.  If,  notwithstand 
ing  the  ordinances,  on  the  day  after  they  were 
passed  the  States  were  as  much  in  the  Union  as  on 
the  day  before  they  were  passed,  and  if,  after  the 
ordinances  were  adopted  and  hostilities  were  being 
carried  on,  their  citizens  had  no  more  right  to  be 
disloyal  than  they  had  before  hostilities  commenced, 
then  they  are  just  as  much  in  the  Union  now  as 
they  were  before. 

Will  any  member  of  the  Senate  seriously  main 
tain,  or  maintain  at  all,  that  the  ordinance  of  seces 
sion  had  any  validity  whatever  ?  If  any  member 
does  so  hold,  the  war  upon  our  part  has  been  a 
great  crime  ;  we  have  been  traitors  to  the  obliga 
tions  we  are  under  to  the  Constitution,  and  not 
those  who,  exercising  the  right  of  secession,  have 
separated  themselves  from  us.  But  if,  as  we  all 
hold,  and  now  everybody  thinks,  the  Constitution 
confers  no  right  of  separation,  but  imposes  an  obli 
gation  upon  every  citizen  in  every  State,  no  matter 
what  may  be  his  conduct  or  the  conduct  of  all  his 
fellow-citizens,  as  absolute  as  it  does  upon  every 
citizen  in  any  other  State,  then  the  ordinances  of 
secession  were  simply  void,  absolutely  void,  having 
no  more  effect  to  terminate  the  connection  between 
those  States  and  the  people  of  those  States  and  the 
Government  of  the  Union,  than  if  such  ordinances 
had  been  passed  by  any  people  outside  of  the  limits 
of  the  United  States." 

On   the  17th  the  debate  was  resumed  by  Mr. 


32  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

Doolittle  of  Wisconsin.  He  commenced  by  asking 
"  how  many  States  constitute  the  great  Republic 
which  the  world  calls  the  United  States  of  Ameri 
ca  ?  The  President  and  they  who  think  with  him 
say  thirty-six.  The  Senator  from  Massachusetts, 
(Mr.  Sumner,)  and  my  colleague  say  twenty-five. 
Where  are  the  eleven  ?"  Mr.  Doolittle  then  pro 
ceeded  at  great  length  in  an  elaborate  argument  to 
show  that  "the  whole  purpose  of  the  rebellion  was 
to  transfer  the  allegiance  of  those  States  from  the 
Federal  Union  to  the  confederation  of  the  South. 
Our  whole  purpose  was  to  prevent  that,  and  save 
those  States  in  the  Union,  and  compel  them  and 
their  people  to  acknowledge  their  allegiance  to  it. 

We  struggled  to  save  the  States  in  a  more  per 
fect  Union  under  our  Constitution. 

They  struggled  to  save  the  States  with  greater 
rights  and  powers  in  the  confederation. 

Upon  this  the  war  was  made  by  them,  and  upon 
that  issue  it  went  on  until  the  end. 

Neither  party  belligerent  sought  to  destroy,  but 
to  save  the  States." 

Mr.  Doolittle  closed  by  saying :  "  We  did  prevent 
the  separation  of  these  States  from  the  Union  by 
force.  Every  law  of  Congress,  every  act  of  the 
President,  every  blow  we  struck,  every  shot  we 
fired,  every  drop  of  blood  we  shed,  was  not  to  thrust 
these  States  out,  nor  to  open  a  way  for  them  to  go 
out,  nor  to  reduce  them  to  Territories,  but  to  keep 
them  as  States  in  the  Union,  and  compel  them  to 


\ 

[     UNIVSPvOJTY    1 

IN   CONGRESS.  33 

remain  in  the  Union  under  the  Constitution.  The 
flag  of  our  country  bears  thirty-six  stars,  as  the 
emblem  of  a  Union  of  thirty-six  States.  Wherever 
it  floats,  over  this  Capitol,  at  the  head  of  our  armies, 
in  the  storm  of  battle,  and  in  the  hour  of  victory, 
over  the  sea  as  well  as  over  the  land,  that  sacred 
ensign,  which,  next  to  the  God  of  heaven,  we  love 
and  reverence  as  representing  the  good,  the  great, 
and  the  true,  everywhere  bears  thirty-six  stars,  and 
thereby  proclaims  to  the  world  the  great,  funda 
mental,  national  truth,  there  are  thirty-six  States  in 
the  Union,  under  the  Constitution.  Thirty-six 
States  constitute  that  great  Republic  which  the 
world  calls  the  United  States  of  America.  Upon 
'that  line'  and  under  that  flag  we  began  the  great 
campaign  ;  upon  that  line  and  under  that  flag  half 
a  million  of  our  sons  and  fathers  and  brothers  have 
laid  clown  their  lives ;  upon  that  line  and  under 
that  flag  we  fought  it  out  to  victory,  and  now,  God 
helping  me,  I  will  continue  to  fight  it  out  on  that 
line  and  under  that  flag  to  the  end,  whoever  else 
may  abandon  it." 

Mr.  Nesmith  of  Oregon  resumed  the  debate  on 
the  18th,  in  vindication  of  the  President's  Policy. 
He  maintained  that  the  President,  as  Commancler- 
in-Chief  of  the  Army,  had  put  down  what  Mr.  Lin 
coln  had  left  of  the  Rebellion,  and  had  clone  it  skill 
fully  and  well.  He  said  there  were  Rebel  State 
governments,  throughout  the  so-called  confederate 
States.  "  These  have  been  subverted,  utterly  re- 
3 


34  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

moved  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  Regarded  as 
revolutionary  and  illegal  in  character,  they  were 
made  to  give  way  before  the  power  of  the  United 
States,  until  not  a  vestige  of  them  is  now  left.  All 
those  hostile  organizations  are  defunct.  They  are 
dead,  and  will  know  no  resurrection.  The  Presi 
dent,  believing  them  to  be  wholly  invalid  in  point 
of  law,  and  criminal  in  purpose,  refused  them  the 
slightest  recognition,  and  has  wiped  them  out  effec 
tually  and  finally." 

Mr.  Nesmith  opposed  negro  suffrage,  and  avowed 
his  belief  that  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  was  the  white  man's  government.  "Not 
withstanding  "  he  said,  "  the  denunciations  which 
iiave  been  hurled  against  the  sentiment,  I  still 
>believe  that  this  is  a  white  man's  Government, 
framed  by  white  men,  and  for  white  men;  insti 
tuted  by  their  wisdom  and  defended  by  their  valor. 
In  saying  this,  I  do  not  mean  to  be  understood  as 
asserting  that  the  Negroes,  the  Indians,  or  any 
other  inferior  races  should  be  excluded  from  the 
natural  rights  of  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit 
of  happiness;  but  I  do  mean  to  say  that  the 
hardy,  persevering,  industrious,  brave,  and  intelli 
gent  Anglo-Saxon  race  and  their  descendants,  who 
brought  civilization  and  the  arts  into  the  New 
World,  and  who  have  organized,  defended,  and  per 
petuated  free  government  here,  are  not  to  be  over 
ridden  and  have  a  governmental  policy  dictated  to 
them  by  any  semi-barbarous  inferiors,  who  have 


IN    CONGRESS.  35 

never  evinced  the  intelligence  here,  nor  in  their 
own  country,  necessary  to  better  their  own  condi 
tion;  who  have  never  had  inventive  genius  to 
improve  upon  the  rudeness  of  the  most  barbarous 
life ;  who  have  never  had  the  courage  to  assert 
and  maintain  a  respectable  Government  anywhere. 

A  stroke  of  the  pen  and  sword  combined  has 
stricken  the  fetters  from  the  limbs  of  the  slave, 
but  has  left  him,  in  point  of  intelligence,  but  little 
the  superior  of  the  brute  creation  or  the  inanimate 
objects  by  which  he  is  surrounded.  The  stroke  of 
neither  the  pen  nor  sword  can  relieve  the  emanci 
pated  slave  of  his  servile  instincts  and  fit  him 
at  once  for  the  judicious  exercise  of  the  right 
of  suffrage.  He  is  as  ignorant  and  passive  to-day 
as  he  was  before  a  drop  of  the  white  man's  blood 
was  shed  to  secure  his  emancipation,  and  he  will  be 
no  better  to-morrow.  By  forcibly  thrusting  upon 
him  the  right  of  suffrage,  of  which  he  has  no 
adequate  comprehension,  you  either  leave  him  the 
dupe  of  his  old  master,  to  be  voted  at  his  will, 
or  force  him  into  an  unequal  contest  with  your 
own  race,  who,  since  any  thing  has  been  known  of 
them,  have  either  enslaved  or  exterminated  every 
other  race  with  which  they  have  come  in  contact." 

Mr.  Wade  of  Ohio  followed  in  reply  to  the 
speech  of  Mr.  Doolittle,  made  the  day  previous. 
He  said,  "In  the  counsels  I  have  given,  and  the 
measures  that  I  have  advocated  in  the  Senate, 
I  have  ever  had  one  polar  star  to  guide  my  action, 


36  RECONSTRUCTION    MEASURES 

and  to  that  I  adhere  whether  I  am  in  the  majority 
or  the  minority,  and  I  never  intend  to  be  tempted 
from  it  one  single  inch.  I  fix  my  eye  upon  the 
great  principle  of  eternal  justice,  and  it  has  borne 
me  triumphantly  through  all  difficulties  in  my  leg 
islative  career  since  I  have  had  a  seat  here.  I  say 
triumphantly,  for,  sir,  I  have  stood  upon  this  floor 
when  I  had  not  ten  men  to  support  me  against  the 
entire  Senate,  and  when  the  principles  that  I  advo 
cated  were  infinitely  more  unpopular  here  than 
those  that  I  announce  to-day.  How  were  the 
whole  Senate  startled  at  the  idea  of  universal 
emancipation  fifteen  years  ago,  ten  years  ago ;  yes, 
sir,  five  years  ago  !  Talk  not  to  me  about  unpopu 
lar  doctrines,  and  endeavor  not  to  intimidate  me  by 
the  intimation  that  I  shall  be  found  in  a  minority 
among  the  people  !  I  know  them  better.  I  think 
I  know  that  I  tread  in  the  great  path  of  rectitude 
and  right,  and  I  care  not  who  opposes  me.  God 
Almighty  is  my  guide ;  He,  going  before  to 
strengthen  my  hand,  has  never  failed  me  yet,  and 
I  do  not  fear  that  He  will  do  so  on  this  occasion." 

To  Senators  Mr.  Wade  said, "  Look  to  yourselves, 
take  counsel  of  your  own  judgment  and  con 
science,  of  your  duty  to  God  and  your  country, 
and  look  less  abroad  and  less  to  great  men,  because 
if  there  were  ever  a  question  before  you  that  was 
peculiarly  your  own  it  is  this. 

#*####:£# 

I  stand  by  my  friends ;   I  stand  by  my  pledges. 


IN    CONGRESS.  37 

The  colored  population  of  this  country,  four  mil 
lions  in  number,  are  not  to  be  ignored  by  the 
speeches  of  gentlemen  nor  the  votes  of  this  Senate. 
If  you  could  do  so,  you  would  create  another 
oligarchy;  for  when  you  cut  off  from  the  right 
to  participate  in  a  free  Government  four  millions 
of  its  people,  more  than  one  third  of  the  entire 
population  of  the  seceded  States,  when  you  cut 
them  off  from  this  great  democratic  right,  you  fix 
a  stigma  upon  them  that  cannot  be  wiped  out; 
it  will  have  a  bearing  infinitely  beyond  the  influ 
ence  in  the  Government  that  their  votes  will 
confer;  you  will  have  trampled  them  under  foot 
forever  with  the  mark  of  Cain  upon  them ;  and 
that  will  be  your  return  for  their  brave  and  able 
defense  of  your  institutions  in  time  of  peril.  Sir, 
I  will  stand  by  them  forever.  As  I  have  already 
said,  my  manhood,  my  honor,  my  sense  of  justice, 
and  my  policy  as  a  member  of  a  free  Government 
all  conduce  to  the  same  end,  to  make  me  stand 
firmly  and  forever  by  the  rights  of  these  four  mill 
ion  people.  So  far  as  my  voice  can  go  they  shall 
stand  upon  the  same  basis  that  I  myself  stand 
on.  I  despise,  with  a  contempt  that  I  cannot 
name,  the  man  who  will  contend  for  rights  for  him 
self  that  he  will  not  award  to  every  body  else. 
What  I  claim  for  myself  or  my  children,  politically, 
I  will  award  to  every  member  of  this  Government, 
and  with  more  scrupulous  guardianship  to  him 


38  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

who  is  weak  and  uninfluential  than  to  him  who  is 
powerful  and  able  to  defend  himself." 

On  the  26th,  Mr.  Howe  resumed  the  debate 
on  his  resolution  and  replied  at  great  length  to  Mr. 
Johnson  and  Mr.  Doolittle.  He  said,  "  All  my  life 
I  have  known,  as  other  Senators  about  me  know, 
that  there  has  been  deposited  away  down  at  the 
bottom  of  American  society  a  great  mass  of  unas 
sorted  humanity  which  has  not  had  a  fair  chance  in 
American  society,  has  not  had  a  fair  chance  in 
the  world.  Now,  if  Government  be  an  estate 
enjoyed  by  those  who  possess  its  prerogatives,  per 
haps  they  are  entirely  right  in  ignoring  this  mass 
of  humanity ;  if  it  be  a  trust  to  be  employed  for 
the  benefit  of  the  governed  rather  than  the  gov 
ernors,  there  is  no  portion  of  American  society 
which,  in  my  judgment,  commends  itself  to  honest 
government  so  heartily,  so  cordially,  so  emphati 
cally  as  the  very  class  to  which  I  refer;  and  I 
think  they  come  before  us  at  this  time  with  pecu 
liar  claims  because  of  the  circumstances  in  which 
the  country  rests  to  day. 

I  have  thought  that  it  belonged  to  republican 
institutions  to  carry  out,  to  execute  the  doctrines 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  to  make  men 
equal.  That  they  are  not  equal  in  social  estima 
tion,  that  they  are  not  equal  in  mental  culture,  that 
they  are  not  equal  in  physical  stature,  I  know  very 
well;  but  I  have  thought  the  weaker  they  were 


IN    CONGRESS.  39 

the  more  the  Government  was  bound  to  foster  and 
protect  them.  If  Government  be  designed  for  the 
protection  of  the  weak,  certainly  the  weaker  men 
are  the  more  they  need  its  protection.  I  know 
that  a  great  portion,  of  these  people  on  whose 
behalf  I  speak  are  uneducated  and  ignorant.  I 
have  supposed  it  was  within  the  purpose  of  repub 
lican  institutions,  and  entirely  within  the  power  of 
republican  institutions,  to  give  culture  and  educa 
tion  to  them  all.  I  supposed  it  ought  to  be  done. 
I  was  a  little  startled  the  other  day  on  hearing  the 
Senator  from  Pennsylvania,  Mr.  Cowan,  start  an 
objection  to  this.  He  told  us  with  a  good  deal 
of  emphasis  that  it  would  not  do  to  have  every 
man  as  learned  and  as  cultivated  as  the  Senator 
from  Massachusetts.  What  will  you  do  for  boot 
blacks?  says  the  Senator  from  Pennsylvania. 
What  will  you  do  for  men  to  perform  your  menial 
offices  ?  The  inquiry  had  not  occurred  to  me.  It 
did  startle  me.  It  is  rather  a  solemn  warning.  It 
did  awaken  me  from  the  dream  in  which  I  had 
indulged  for  a  great  many  years.  It  ought  to 
be  attended  to.  You  who  think  men,  American 
citizens,  ought  to  be  made  equal,  take  care  that 
you  do  not  destroy  the  profession  of  boot-black. 
You  that  think  that  in  the  course  of  coming  gener 
ations  all  men  are  to  be  brought  up  and  placed 
upon  a  plane  of  political  equality,  listen  to  the  sol 
emn  admonition  of  the  Senator  from  Pennsylvania, 
who  sends  his  warning  down  the  line  of  these  com- 


40  RECONSTRUCTION    MEASURES 

ing  generations  and  charges  you  to  be  careful, 
be  careful  how  you  enlarge  your  universities ;  you 
had  better  shut  up  your  academies,  your  school- 
houses;  if  you  do  not  take  care  you  will  have 
nobody  to  black  your  boots ! 

Well,  this  is  a  serious  matter;  it  commends 
itself  to  you  gentlemen  who  have  your  names 
fairly  writ  on  the  conservative  list ;  you  must  take 
heed  to  it.  As  for  myself,  I  am  washed  out  of 
that  fraternity.  Ever  since  I  have  taken  any  part 
in  political  affairs,  I  have  been  so  firmly  and  so 
fully  wedded  to  the  idea  that  it  was  the  work 
of  the  law,  as  of  the  gospel,  to  bring  all  men  up  to 
their  utmost  capacity,  that  I  am  bound  to  prose 
cute  that  labor  myself.  I  must  go  along  in  that 
path.  I  am  hopelessly  committed  to  itt  I  must 
follow  it  out,  even  if  my  boots  go  unblacked. 

^j^^:^:^HJ^^ 

I  do  not  hold  that  the  men  who  made  this 
war  and  fought  in  it  against  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  are  any  worse  than  the 
men  who  in  our  own  communities  at  home  have 
kept  out  of  both  our  armies  and  theirs,  but  who 
have  given  all  their  prayers  and  all  their  encour 
agement  and  all  their  sympathies  to  the  men 
who  have  been  fighting  against  us.  Their  purpose 
was  the  same.  One  was  just  as  disloyal  to  the 
Government  of  the  nation  as  the  other.  One  was 
a  little  bolder  than  the  other;  that  is  the  only 
difference. 


IN    CONGRESS.  41 

I  put  it  to  you,  which  of  all  those  miscreants 
who  went  out  to  capture  Jesus  do  you  think  was 
really  the  most  criminal?  Were  they  who  went 
out  with  swords  and  staves  in  their  hands,  avowing 
their  purpose  and  clamoring  for  the  life  of  the 
Saviour,  or  was  it  that  sneaking  fellow  who  went 
out  in  the  garb  of  a  friend  and  undertook  to 
betray  the  Saviour  of  the  world  with  a  kiss?  I 
say  it  was  not  the  servants  of  the  high  priest, 
but  it  was  Judas  himself.  And  among  all  those 
men  who  have  sought  to  betray  the  authority 
of  the  nation,  I  say  those  are  the  guiltiest  who 
have  not  avowed  their  purpose,  but  have  gone 
as  directly  and  as  persistently  toward  it  under  the 
cover  of  false  pretensions  of  loyalty." 

Mr.  Howe  was  followed  by  Mr.  Stewart  of  Ne 
vada,  in  a  brief  speech;  he  thought  it  was  the 
duty  of  the  President  to  see  that  the  laws  were  en 
forced,  and  he  would  build  up  without  tearing 
down  the  organizations  the  President  had  reared. 
When  a  loyal  man  who  had  been  tried  in  the 
fire  of  war  was  elected  to  the  Senate  he  would 
admit  him.  Mr.  Howe  desired  to  have  his  resolu 
tion  referred  to  the  joint  special  Committee  on  Re 
construction,  but  Mr.  McDougal  of  California  ob 
jecting,  it  went  over  and  was  not  again  con 
sidered. 


CHAPTER  H. 

RECONSTRUCTION.— PRESIDENT'S   MESSAGE. 

Mr.  Stevens'  motion  agreed  to.— Debate  on  Reconstruction. — Speech  of 
Mr.  Stevens. — Mr.  Finck's  Speech. — Mr.  Raymond. — Mr.  Bingham. 
Speech  of  Mr.  Spaulding.— Speech  of  Mr.  Latham.— Mr.  Elaine.— Mr. 
Shellabarger's  Speech. — Mr.  Voorhees'  Resolution. — Speech  of  Mr.  Voor- 
hees. — Mr.  Bingham's  Speech. — Motion  to  amend. — Referred. — Speech  of 
Mr.  Deming. — Mr.  Smith. — Mr.  Baker's  Speech. — Mr.  Broomall's  Speech. 
Mr.  Hubbell's  Speech.— Mr.  Randall.— Mr.  Lawrence.— Mr.  Stillwell.— 
Mr.  Welker.— Mr.  Henderson.— Mr.  Kelso.— Speech  of  Mr.  Ward.— 
Speech  of  Mr.  Newell. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Strouse. — Mr.  Defrees. — Mr. 
Cook. — Resolutions  of  Mr.  Broomall. — Mr.  Cullom's  Speech. — Mr. 
Clarke's  Speech. — Mr.  Plantz's  Speech. — Mr.  Beaman's  Speech. — Mr. 
Brom well's  Speech. — Mr.  Me  Kee's  Speech. — Mr.  Thornton's  Speech. 
Remarks  of  Mr.  Kuykendall,  and  Mr.  Finck. — Mr.  Orth. — Speech  of  Mr. 
Stevens. 

IN  the  House  of  Representatives  on  the  18th  of 
December,  Mr.  Stevens  of  Pennsylvania,  moved 
that  so  much  of  the  President's  message  as  related 
to  the  Reconstruction  of  the  Rebel  States  be 
referred  to  the  Joint  Special  Committee  on  Recon 
struction;  and  the  motion  was  agreed  to.  The 
House  then  commenced  a  debate  on  Reconstruc 
tion,  the  President's  message  being  under  consider 
ation,  which  continued  at  times  during  several 
months. 

The  debate  was  opened  by  Mr.  Stevens  on  the 

power    and   proper   principles    of   Reconstruction. 

He  declared   that  it  mattered   little  whether  the 

rebel  States  were  out  of  the  Union  or  only  dead 

42 


IN    CONGRESS.  43 

States  in  the  Union ;  they  were  incapable  of  repre 
sentation  without  the  action  of  the  Government  of 
the  United  States.  "  Dead  States/'  he  said,  cannot 
restore  their  own  existence  as  it  was.  "Whose 
especial  duty  is  it  to  do  it?  In  whom  does  the 
Constitution  place  the  power?  Not  in  the  judicial 
branch  of  Government,  for  it  only  adjudicates  and 
does  not  prescribe  laws.  Not  in  the  Executive,  for 
he  only  executes  and  cannot  make  laws.  Not 
in  the  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Army,  for 
he  can  only  hold  them  under  military  rule  until 
the  sovereign  legislative  power  of  the  conqueror 
shall  give  them  law."  Mr.  Stevens  then  said — 
"this  doctrine  of  a  white  man's  Government  is 
as  atrocious  as  that  infamous  sentiment  that 
damned  the  late  Chief  Justice  to  everlasting  fame ; 
and  I  fear  to  everlasting  fire." 

On  the  21st,  the  House  resumed  the  consid 
eration  of  the  President's  message,  and  Mr.  Finck 
of  Ohio  spoke  in  condemnation  of  the  policy  of 
extending  suffrage  by  the  action  of  Congress, 
in  the  rebel  States,  denounced  centralization  and 
consolidation,  and  deplored  the  ideas,  policy  and  in 
fluence  of  New  England.  Mr.  Eaymond  of  New 
York,  replied  to  Mr.  Stevens,  and  denied  that  the 
rebel  States  were  either  out  of  the  Union,  or  dead 
States  within  the  Union.  He  expressed  the  hope 
and  belief  that  they  had  returned  in  all  sincerity 
and  good  faith  to  join  in  promoting  the  prosperity 
of  the  country,  in  defending  the  banner  of  its 


44  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

glory  and  in  fighting  the  battles  of  Democratic 
freedom.  Mr.  Bingham  of  Ohio,  and  Mr.  Jenckes 
of  Rhode  Island  briefly  replied  to  Mr.  Raymond. 

On  the  5th  of  January,  Mr.  Spalding  of  Ohio 
resumed  the  debate.  He  said,  "The  people  of 
eleven  States  had  formally  absolved  themselves 
from  all  allegiance  to  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  and  had  made  use  of  all  their  mate 
rial  resources  to  effect  its  full  and  final  overthrow. 
They  had  marshaled  mighty  armies  in  the  field. 
They  had  sent  armed  ships  to  prey  upon  the  com 
merce  of  the  country  in  distant  seas.  They  had 
sent  their  emissaries,  with  torches,  to  burn  the 
dwellings  of  loyal  citizens,  and  with  the  seeds 
of  pestilence  to  destroy  their  lives.  They  had 
resorted  to  starvation  to  thin  the  ranks  of  captive 
soldiers.  In  fine,  they  had  used  every  means,  prac 
ticed  by  civilized  or  barbarous  nations,  to  break 
down  and  destroy  the  constitutional  Government 
of  the  United  States,  and  were  only  prevented  from 
accomplishing  their  work  by  the  heroic  endurance 
and  patriotic  valor  of  our  citizen  soldiers.  They 
had  refused  terms  of  pacification  unless  accompa 
nied  by  what  they  claimed  as  a  sine  qua  non — the 
acknowledged  independence  of  the  southern  con 
federacy. 

At  length  their  armies  were  discomfited  in 
the  field  and  compelled  to  surrender.  Their  chief 
executive  was  captured  and  thrown  into  prison; 
and  their  ' confederacy'  was  dissipated  'like  the 


IN    CONGRESS.  45 

baseless  fabric  of  a  vision.'  The  fragmentary  pop 
ulation  of  eleven  revolted  States,  acknowledg 
ing  their  defeat  in  the  ordeal  of  battle,  but  show 
ing  no  signs  of  regret  for  their  gigantic  treason 
against  the  best  rights  of  man,  now  unblushingly 
claim  an  immediate  restoration  to  a  full  partic 
ipation  in  the  councils  of  the  Republic." 

Mr.  Spalding  maintained  that  Congress  had 
power  to  impose  conditions,  and  he  was  for  con 
ditions  that  should  secure  the  rights  and  inter 
ests  of  the  nation.  "  Let  these  guaranties  be  given 
to  loyalty,"  he  said,  "  and  I  will  try  to  forgive, — 
I  can  never  forget, — the  injuries  received  by 
iny  country  from  TRAITORS." 

Mr.  Latham  of  West  Virginia  resumed  the 
debate  on  the  8th.  He  maintained  that  those  who 
accorded  to  the  ordinances  of  secession  an  impor 
tance  so  vital  were  not  one  whit  less  disunionists  in 
theory  and  principle  than  those  who  adopted  them. 
He  said,  "We  are  seriously  told  upon  the  floor 
of  this  House,  by  those  claiming  to  be  par  excel 
lence,  the  friends  of  the  Union,  that  these  States 
are  out  of  the  Union !  Look,  sir,  and  count  the 
stars  and  stripes  upon  that  flag.  Does  this  House 
indorse  a  flaunting  lie  in  its  presence  every  day, 
hour,  and  minute  of  its  sitting  ?  Why  floats  in  the 
breeze  that  banner  untorn  from  the  top  of  this 
Hall,  attracting  the  gaze  of  admiring  multitudes 
for  miles  around,  if  eleven  of  the  States  repre 
sented  thereon  have  ceased  to  be  States,  and  are 


46  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

no  longer  members  of  this  Union?  Is  it  to  de 
ceive  foreign  nations  through  their  representatives 
at  your  Government?  Go,  sir,  and  ask  the  honest 
tar  in  your  navy-yard,  or  upon  the  wide  ocean, 
or  in  a  foreign  port,  if  the  flag  floating  from  his 
mast-head  flaunts  a  lie — is  a  deception  and  a  cheat! 
Ask  the  returning  veteran,  scarred  and  maimed, 
who  risked  his  life  and  shed  his  blood  to  save 
and  perpetuate  the  Union,  if  '  the  war  has  been  a 
failure,'  and  if  the  flag  he  bears  so  proudly  home 
ward  is  all  that  is  saved  from  the  wreck  of  his 
dismembered  country." 

Mr.  Elaine  of  Maine  expressed  his  desire  to 
so  amend  the  Constitution  as  to  exclude  from 
the  basis  of  Representation  those  persons,  who 
were  denied  civil  rights  and  privileges  on  account 
of  race  or  color.  Mr.  Shellabarger  of  Ohio  made 
a  very  able  speech  in  reply  to  Mr.  Raymond.  In 
response  to  a  question  of  Mr.  Deming  of  Connecti 
cut  he  said,  "  Does  the  gentleman  yet  ask  for  '  the 
specific  act'  that  deprived  these  States  of  all  the 
rights  of  States,  and  made  them  ' enemies?'  I 
once  more  answer  him  in  the  words  of  the  Supreme 
Court  that  the  specific  acts  were,  they  causelessly 
waged  against  their  own  Government  a  6  war  which 
all  the  world  acknowledge  to  have  been  the  great 
est  civil  war  known  in  the  history  of  the  human 
race.'  That  war  was  waged  by  these  people  'as 
States,'  and  it  went  through  long  dreary  years.  In 
it  they  threw  off  and  defied  the  authority  of  your 


IN    CONGRESS.  47 

Constitution,  laws,  and  Government;  the}7  obliter 
ated  from  their  State  Constitutions  and  laws  every 
vestige  of  recognition  of  your  Government ;  they 
discarded  all  official  oaths,  and  took  in  their  places 
oaths  to  support  your  enemy's  government.  They 
seized,  in  their  States,  all  the  nation's  property; 
their  Senators  and  Representatives  in  your  Con 
gress  insulted,  bantered,  defied,  and  then  left  you ; 
they  expelled  from  their  land  or  assassinated  every 
inhabitant  of  known  loyalty;  they  betrayed  and 
surrendered  your  armies;  they  passed  sequestra 
tion  and  other  acts  in  flagitious  violation  of  the 
law  of  nations,  making  every  citizen  of  the  United 
States  an  alien  enemy,  and  placing  in  the  treasury 
of  their  rebellion  all  money  and  property  due  such 
citizens.  They  framed  iniquity  and  universal  mur 
der  into  law.  They  beseiged,  for  years,  your  capi 
tal,  and  sent  your  bleeding  armies,  in  rout,  back 
here  upon  the  very  sanctuaries  of  your  national 
power.  Their  pirates  burned  your  unarmed  com 
merce  upon  every  sea.  They  carved  the  bones  of 
your  unburied  heroes  into  ornaments,  and  drank 
from  goblets  made  out  of  their  skulls.  They 
poisoned  your  fountains,  put  mines  under  your  sol 
diers'  prisons ;  organized  bands  whose  leaders  were 
concealed  in  your  homes,  and  whose  commissions 
ordered  the  torch  and  yellow  fever  to  be  carried  to 
your  cities,  and  to  your  women  and  children. 
They  planned  one  universal  bonfire  of  the  North 
from  Lake  Ontario  to  the  Missouri.  They  mur- 


48  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

dered  by  systems  of  starvation  and  exposure  sixty 
thousand  of  your  sons,  as  brave  and  heroic  as  ever 
martyrs  were.  They  destroyed  in  the  five  years 
of  horrid  war  another  army  so  large  that  it  would 
reach  almost  around  the  globe  in  marching  col 
umns;  and  then  to  give  to  the  infernal  drama  a 
fitting  close,  and  to  concentrate  into  one  crime 
all  that  is  criminal  in  crime,  and  all  that  is  detesta 
ble  in  barbarism,  they  killed  the  President  of  the 
United  States. 

*^^^^^%^r 

Let  the  revolted  States  base  their  republican 
State  governments  upon  a  general  and  sincere  loy 
alty  of  the  people  and  come  to  us  under  the  guar 
antees  of  this  renewed  Union,  and  we  hail  their 
coming  and  the  hour  that  brings  them. 

If  you  ask  again,  '  Suppose  such  general  loyalty 
should  never  reappear,  shall  they  be  dependencies 
forever  ? ' 

Sir,  convince  me  that  the  case  is  supposable, 
then  with  deepest  sorrow  I  answer — FOREVER  ! " 

On  the  9th,  Mr.  Voorhees  of  Indiana  introduced 
a  series  of  resolutions  and  addressed  the  House 
on  reconstruction  in  an  elaborate  and  carefully 
prepared  speech.  He  commended  the  policy  of 
the  President  and  bitterly  and  defiantly  denounced 
the  action  of  Congress.  "The  cry  is  now,"  he 
said,  "that  we  must  look  to  Congress  for  our 
policy  of  restoration.  This  place  has  suddenly 
become  a  citidel  of  wisdom,  power  and  dominion. 


IN   CONGRESS.  49 

It  is  a  city  of  refuge,  where  all  the  disappointed 
spoliators,  insane  anarchists,  bloody  Jacobins,  pro 
moters  of  vengeance,  disturbers  of  the  peace,  self- 
constituted  saints  who  imagine  themselves  in  part 
nership  with  the  Almighty  to  assist  Him  in  punish 
ing  the  sins  of  the  world,  where  law-breakers  and 
revolutionists  of  every  shade  and  color  now  flee  to 
escape  from  the  wise,  successful,  and  constitutional 
policy  of  the  President.  'To  your  tents,  0  Israel!' 
was  the  ancient  and  legitimate  cry  of  alarm.  Look 
to  Congress,  look  to  Congress ! '  now  rings  out  on 
the  air  as  a  call  to  battle  in  behalf  of  chaos,,  disor 
der,  and  interminable  woes.  The  populace  of 
France,  tossed  in  a  tumultuous  delirium  of  hate, 
drunken  with  blood,  dethroning  Deity  and  rever 
encing  a  harlot,  shouted,  'Look  to  the  Assembly, 
look  to  the  Assembly ! '  where  the  Mountain  mur 
dered  the  Girondists,  and  where  Robespierre,  Ma 
rat,  and  Saint  Just  planned,  in  the  name  of  public 
virtue,  the  destruction  of  human  life  and  of  human 
society.  But,  sir,  if  we  must  'look  to  Congress/ 
let  me  show  the  wistful  gazers  a  picture  of  Con 
gressional  action  which  will  fill  their  hearts  with 
dismay,  and  which  Congress  itself  cannot  to-day 
behold  without  feelings  of  humiliation  and  shame 
over  its  present  position." 

Mr.    Yoorhees    declared    that    the    President's 
policy  had  cleared  away  the  wreck  of  a  gigantic 
fraternal  war,  laid  anew  the  foundations  of  Gov 
ernment,   renewed   confidence    and    hope    in    the 
4 


50  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

hearts   of   a   despairing   people,  and  won  for  its 

nuthor  the  respect  and  admiration  of  the  civilized 
Cations-  of  both  hemispheres.  He  said,  "Those 
wandering  stars  from  the  azure  field  of  the  flag, 
those  discontented  Pleiades  that  shot  madly  from 
their  spheres,  have  one  by  one  reillumed  their  rays 
at  the  great  center  of  light  and  of  glory.  The 
whole  land  wept  when  the  beautiful  sisterhood  was 
broken.  The  wrail  of  the  heartbroken  over  the 
pallid  face  of  the  beloved  and  untimely  dead  is  not 
more  full  of  anguish  than  were  the  hearts  of  those 
who  love  their  fellow-man  when  many  of  our  most 
brilliant  planets  denied  the  law  of  gravitation  and 
struck  defiantly  out  upon  orbits  of  their  own. 
The  sword  that  was  drawn  by  all  Christian  hands, 
more  in  sorrow  than  in  anger,  hangs  peacefully  in 
its  scabbard  on  the  wall.  Each  section  has  its 
reminiscences  of  sublime  devotion,  of  grief,  and  of 
glory.  These  are  the  brave  heart's  dearest  treas 
ure,  and  until 

'  The  good  knights  are  dust/ 

they  will  be  hallowed  as  the  devotee  hallows  the 
rites  of  his  religion.  But  peace  under  the  policy 
of  the  Executive  is  celebrating  'her  victories  no 
less  renowned  than  war.'  The  shining  symbols  of 
the  revolted  race  are  over  our  heads.  State  after 
.State,  kindly  assisted  by  the  paternal  hand  of  the 
President,  comes  to  take  its  place  beneath  its  an 
cient  coat  of  anus.  They  cluster  around  these 
vacant  seats  that  have  so  long  invited  them  in 


IN   CONGRESS.  51 

vain.  They  are  welcomed  by  the  President  as 
Israel's  greatest  king  welcomed  the  warlike  son  of 
Ner,  whose  standard  had  waved  twice  four  years  in 
rebellion." 

Mr.  Bingham  of  Ohio  replied  to  Mr.  Voorhees  in 
a  speech  of  power  and  eloquence.  "I  am  not  will 
ing,"  he  said,  "that  the  gentleman,  after  the  strug 
gle  through  which  we  have  all  passed,  shall  assume 
that  he  alone,  as  a  Representative  of  the  people,  is 
faithful  to  the  Constitution  of  his  country  and  to 
the  sacred  rights  of  the  people  of  the  whole  coun 
try.  I  claim  myself  to  co-operate  with  a  party  of 
men  who  are  as  charitable  as  the  gentleman  can  be, 
even  toward  these  late  insurgents,  these  late  conspi 
rators,  these  men  who  but  the  other  day  struck 
with  their  drawn  daggers  at  the  white  breast  of  our 
mother  country.  I  am  not  willing  to  concede  that 
these  gentlemen  who,  by  their  utterances,  but  gave 
aid  and  comfort  to  the  rebellion  during  the  gigan 
tic  struggle,  are  the  only  persons  to  be  intrusted 
with  the  honor  and  dignity  of  this  greatest  of  all 
trusts  ever  committed  to  the  care  of  any  people 
upon  this  earth,  the  perpetuity  of  the  Republic. 
The  Republic,  sir,  is  in  the  hands  of  its  friends,  and 
its  only  safety  is  in  the  hands  of  its  friends.  The 
party  of  the  Republic  proposes  only  to  take  securi 
ty  for  the  future.  They  do  not  expect  nor  hope 
for  indemnity  for  the  past.  They  propose,  how 
ever,  to  take  security  for  the  future. 


52  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

The  spirit,  the  intent,  the  purpose  of  our  Con 
stitution  is  to  secure  equal  and  exact  justice  to  all 
men.  That  has  not  been  done.  It  has  failed  to  be 
done  in  the  past.  It  has  failed  in  respect  of  white 
men  as  well  as  black  men.  It  has  failed  to  be  done 
at  times  in  respect  of  some  of  the  most  distinguish 
ed  citizens  of  the  Republic.  Was  justice  done  to 
your  martyr  President  when  he  was  assassinated  in 
the  capital?  Time  was,  within  the  memory  of 
every  man  now  within  hearing  of  my  voice,  when 
it  was  entirely  unsafe  for  a  citizen  of  Massachusetts 
or  Ohio  who  was  known  to  be  the  friend  of  the  hu 
man  race,  the  avowed  advocate  of  the  foundation 
principle  of  our  Constitution — the  absolute  equali 
ty  of  all  men  before  the  law — to  be  found  any 
where  in  the  streets  of  Charleston  or  in  the  streets 
of  Richmond. 

I  propose,  with  the  help  of  this  Congress  and  of 
the  American  people,  that  hereafter  there  shall  not 
be  any  disregard  of  that  essential  guarantee  of  your 
Constitution  in  any  State  of  the  Union.  And  how  ? 
By  simply  adding  an  amendment  to  the  Constitu 
tion  to  operate  on  all  the  States  of  this  Union  alike, 
giving  to  Congress  the  power  to  pass  all  laws  neces 
sary  and  proper  to  secure  to  all  persons — which  in 
cludes  every  citizen  of  every  State — their  equal 
personal  rights ;  and  if  the  tribunals  of  South  Caro 
lina  will  not  respect  the  rights  of  the  citizens  of 
Massachusetts  under  the  Constitution  of  their  com- 


IN   CONGRESS.  53 

mon  country,  I  desire  to  see  the  Federal  judiciary 
clothed  with  the  power  to  take  cognizance  of  the 
question,  and  assert  those  rights  by  solemn  judg 
ment,  inflicting  upon  the  offenders  such  penalties  as 
will  compel  a  decent  respect  for  this  guarantee  to 
all  the  citizens  of  every  State.  Having  said  this 
much  touching  security  for  the  future,  allow  me  to 
add  that  I  repel  with  scorn,  come  from  what  source 
it  may,  the  suggestion  that  I  co-operate  with  any 
party  that  proposes  to  impose  an  unequal  or  unjust 
burden  upon  any  State  in  this  Republic." 

Mr.  Bingham  closed  with  a  motion  to  amend  the 
resolutions  introduced  by  Mr.  Voorhees,  by  striking 
out  and  inserting  a  resolution  expressing  confidence 
that  the  President  would  co-operate  with  Congress 
in  restoring  to  the  Union  the  States  lately  in  insur 
rection.  On  motion  of  Mr.  Stevens  the  resolution 
and  the  amendment  were  referred  to  the  Commitr 
tee  on  Reconstruction,  by  107  Yeas  to  32  Nays. 

On  the  19th  the  debate  was  resumed  by  Mr. 
Deming  of  Conn.,  in  a  speech  of  much  power  and 
beauty:  "We  are  here,"  he  said,  "in  the  full  gaze 
of  the  nation  and  the  civilized  world,  charged  with 
the  future  grandeur  and  renown  of  the  Republic. 
"We  are  here  fairly  coining  and  molding  the  rising 
eras  and  ages  of  a  continent.  We  are  here  a1> 
tempting  to  save  an  empire  from  being  mortally 
wounded  by  that  ball  which  has  hardly  yet  spent 
its  force,  and  which  these  new  converts  sped  at  its 
head  when  in  their  now  regenerate  bosoms  burned 


54  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

all  the  concentrated  flames  of  hell.  We  are  here, 
having  just  rescued  the  Government  from  death  on 
the  field  of  honor,  attempting  to  save  it  from  the 
death  of  infamy  which  would  follow  its  perfidy  to 
the  freedman  who  fought  its  battles  and  to  the 
creditor  who  purchased  its  bonds.  And  when  here, 
under  such  oppressive  responsibilities  to  the  pres 
ent  and  the  future,  to  the  living  and  the  dead,  we 
ask,  earnestly  ask,  like  tortured  Ajax  begging  for 
light,  what  proof — strong,  convincing,  overwhelm 
ing,  as  the  enormous  improbability  of  the  supposi 
tion  requires — do  you  present  that  these  red-hand 
ed  rebels  can  safely  participate  with  us  in  launch 
ing  the  now  enfranchised  Republic  on  its  dazzling 
orbit  of  justice,  probity,  and  freedom,  we  are  forth 
with  answered  by  a  flux  of  glittering  generalities, 
which  are  no  more  proofs  of  loyalty  than  the  dog 
ged  submission  of  the  assassin  Payne  to  his  fate 
was  proof  of  loyalty. 

I  see  by  the  northern  papers  that  some  reverend 
gentlemen  have  been  transcendently  weak  enough 
to  bless  God  "for  having  converted  the  southern 
heart  to  loyalty."  If  this  be  so,  St.  Paul's  conver 
sion  was  rather  a  tame  affair.  If  it  be  true  that 
these  fire-eating,  blood-thirsty  southrons,  whose  un 
tamed  insubordination,  whose  furious  and  vindictive 
passions,  were  the  proverb  and  shame  of  our  past, 
have  been  suddenly  born  again,  then  has  the  day 
of  Pentecost  met  with  an  eclipse  which  amounts  to 
a  total  obscuration,  and  the  epistles  of  Andrew  have 


IN    CONGRESS.  55 

worked  a  greater  miracle  than  the  preaching  of 
Peter." 

Mr.  Deming  was  followed  by  Mr.  Smith  of  Ken 
tucky,  who  warned  the  Kepublican  party  against 
the  adoption  of  Negro  suffrage.  He  avowed  his 
willingness  to  maintain  the  freedom  of  the  negroes, 
to  teach  them  to  be  intelligent  and  virtuous,  to  in 
sure  their  rights  of  property,  liberty  and  life.  On 
the  27th,  Mr.  Baker  of  Illinois  spoke  eloquently  of 
the  grand  purpose  of  the  loyal  people  to  demand 
security  for  the  future.  "That  purpose,"  he  said, 
"is  strong  because  it  is  allied  to  patriotism,  justice, 
humanity  ;  because  it  recognizes  progress  as  well  as 
order  ;  because  it  is  the  will  of  God,  expressed  in 
historic  form,  and  working  out  the  historic  ends  of 
the  Republic.  It  will  not  be  thwarted  of  these 
ends,  sir !  No  power  in  the  nation,  official  or  other, 
is  strong  enough  to  stand  before  it  and  turn  it  back. 
It  demands  that  the  old  reign  of  brotherly  love 
based  upon  infernal  injustice  shall  cease,  and  cease 
effectually.  It  demands  that  the  character  of  the 
American  citizen  shall  no  more  be  degraded  nor  his 
patriotism  corrupted  by  being  required  to  surrender 
his  conscience  as  a  peace-offering  to  either  an  im 
perious  or  a  suing  aristocracy  of  class.  It  demands 
that  the  honor  of  the  nation  shall  not  be  soiled  with 
base  ingratitude  by  abandoning  our  southern  allies 
who  have  done  so  much  by  strong  arms  and  patri 
otic  sympathy  to  turn  the  scale  of  the  conflict  in 
our  favor — abandoning  them,  sir,  to  the  bullet,  the 


56  KECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

knife,  the  halter,  the  scourge,  the  cruel  code,  the  en 
forced  ignorance,  and  compulsory  poverty  which 
the  bitter  ' grudge'  that  is  owed  them  will  so  surely 
bring  upon  their  unprotected  heads. 

######## 

Then,  sir,  we  shall  have  built  our  house  upon  a 
rock,  and  not  upon  moving  quicksand.  Then  the 
blood  that  has  flowed  and  the  hearts  that  have  bro 
ken  and  died  in  this  terrible  war  for  liberty  and 
nationality,  shall  come  forth  from  the  ground  and 
the  grave  and  bless  the  hand  of  the  builder !  Oh, 
I  warn  you,  sir,  I  warn  you,  that  when  conserva 
tives  make  haste  liberty  is  in  danger !  It  is  for  a 
purpose,  and  to  the  cost  of  humanity,  that  they 
seek  to  violate  the  fixed  maxims  of  their  conduct 
and  the  ingrained  principles  of  their  life.  When 
fighting  against  the  birth  of  new  liberties — as  they 
so  strangely  love  to  fight ;  when  holding  back  the 
hand  that  would  lift  a  burden  from  the  quivering 
heart  of  the  downtrodden  poor — as  they  so  cruelly 
love  to  hold — they  are  fond  of  telling  us  after  Lin- 
nseus,  ' There  are  no  leaps  in  nature;'  and  after 
Bacon,  'Time  is  the  great  innovater,  but  he  inno- 
vateth  slowly.'  But  now,  when  a  very  little  time 
is  needed  to  concrete  the  fruits  of  this  great  strug 
gle — to  ripen  the  blood  of  the  martyred  dead  into 
a  sure  and  everlasting  heritage  of  liberty  to  all  the 
people — the  eagle  hasteneth  not  more  swiftly  to 
his  prey,  than  do  these  same  conservatives  to  dash 
this  fairest  prospect  that  Heaven  has  ever  vouch- 


IN   CONGRESS.  57 

safed  to  man  on  earth !  Ah,  God !  if  we  do  but 
let  them  do  it !  Men  of  the  North !  men  of  the 
North!  stand  firm  till  this  sacred  finishing  duty 
shall  be  performed !  Shoulder  to  shoulder,  and 
shield  to  shield,  let  the  whole  grand  column  of  Lib 
erty  and  Union  march  on,  until  the  results  of  this 
great  war,  so  dearly  earned  by  the  mighty  agony 
of  the  Nation's  bleeding  heart,  shall  be  gathered  up 
and  made  secure  forever !  And  he  that  falters 
now — though  his  plume  may  have  shown  in  the 
forefront  of  the  fight,  and  his  voice  rallied  the  clans 
of  liberty  in  other  days — for  him  let  the  portion  be, 
'Iclmbod!  Ichabod!  thy  glory  is  departed!'" 

Mr.  Broomall  of  Penn.  spoke  for  a  Reconstruction 
that  should  give  security  to  the  freedman  and  not 
leave  to  the  tender  mercies  of  his  enemies,  one 
who  in  the  gigantic  struggle  was  on  the  side  of  the 
country  and  against  his  master.  He  said  "the 
negro  was  loyal  to  a  government  to  which  he  owed 
nothing  but  chains ;  a  government  which  had  au 
thoritatively  pronounced  from  its  highest  altar  of 
justice,  that  he  had  no  rights  which  it  was  bound 
to  respect ;  true,  when  the  hand  that  fed  him,  and 
could  crush  him  became  false  ;  shedding  his  blood 
and  leaving  his  bones  on  the  most  sanguinary  bat 
tle  fields,  fighting,  and  falling  when  he  fell,  always 
on  the  side  of  loyalty.' 

Mr.  Hubbell  of  Ohio,  on  the  5th  of  February,  ad 
dressed  the  House  in  favor  of  changing  the  basis 
of  representation,  and  of  giving  ample  and  com- 

^1' 

Of   THE 

UNIVERSITY 


58  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

plete  protection  to  the  freedmen  in  all  their  rights 
of  person  and  of  property,  to  the  full  extent  by  all 
non-voting  classes.  Mr.  Randall  of  Penn.  main 
tained  that  the  Republican  party,  by  its  acts  and 
legislation,  had  established  the  fact  that  the  rebel 
States  were  not  out  of  the  Union.  Mr.  Lawrence 
of  Ohio  was  for  speedily  inaugurating  the  era  of 
universal  brotherhood  and  universal  justice.  "When" 
said  he,  "by  irreversible  guarantees  secession  shall 
be  repudiated;  the  supremacy  of  national  allegi 
ance  and  national  adjudications  affirmed  ;  a  just 
basis  of  representation  in  Congress  and  the  Elec 
toral  College  secured ;  the  rebel  debt  repudiated, 
the  impudent  claim  of  compensation  for  slaves  made 
free  shall  be  rejected ;  our  national  debt  and  obli 
gations  to  Union  soldiers  placed  beyond  repudiation; 
with  the  personal  rights  of  every  citizen  secured ; 
with  every  State  pledged  to  provide  common  schools 
for  all  its  youth,  then,  with  unqualified  loyalty  re 
stored,  the  era  of  fraternity  will  be  secured." 

Mr.  Stillwell  of  Indiana  had  hoped  that  four  years 
of  war  had  wiped  out  forever  from  the  public  mind 
every  thought  of  nullification,  secession,  and  dis 
union,  and  that  the  nation  had  emerged  from  the 
bloody  contest  with  but  one  national  pulsation, 
that  the  States  are  "one  and  inseparable,  now  and 
forever."  Mr.  Welker  of  Ohio  maintained  that  the 
rebel  States  were  not  out  of  the  Union.  He  said, 
"no  man  whose  heart  was  filled  with  sentiments  of 
treason,  whose  hand  is  red  with  the  blood  of  our 


IN    CONGRESS.  59 

martyred  heroes,  should  ever  be  allowed  to  take  a 
seat  as  a  Representative  in  the  American  Congress. 
No  traitor  should  ever  be  allowed  to  contaminate 
these  beautiful  Halls.  The  great  and  vital  interests 
of  this  broad  land  should  never,  no  never,  be  placed 
in  such  hands.  No  pardons,  no  repentance  should 
ever  open  these  doors  to  him.  These  majestic  em 
blems  of  freedom  should  never  be  desecrated  by  his 
presence."  Mr.  Henderson  of  Oregon  said  John 
Brown  struck  against  slavery,  the  rebel  leaders 
struck  for  slavery ;  he  was  punished  justly ;  they 
deserved  punishment  more. 

Mr.  Kelso  of  Missouri  was  born  of  ultra  pro- 
slavery  parents,  and  had  unconsciously  imbibed 
many  of  their  sentiments  and  prejudices,  but  he 
was  willing  to  do  justice  to  all  men,  to  even  the 
despised  negro.  He  said,  "  The  gratitude,  the 
plighted  faith  of  the  nation  binds  us  to  bestow  up 
on  the  loyal  blacks,  all  the  rights  of  freemen.  In 
the  darkest  hour  of  our  country's  need  they  never 
faltered,  though  their  fidelity  to  us  subjected  them 
to  unheard-of  outrages  and  to  death  in  a  thousand 
terrible  forms.  Our  poor  starved  prisoners,  escap 
ing  from  the  rebel  slaughter-pens,  found  no  friend 
but  the  poor,  despised  negro.  He  shared  with  them 
his  own  scant  fare,  and  in  the  darkness  of  the  night 
led  them  through  swamps  and  over  mountains  to 
the  camps  of  their  friends.  When  the  war  hung  in 
even  balance,  we  called  upon  these  poor  slaves  to 
help  us,  and  promised  in  return  to  make  them  free. 


60  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

No  danger,  no  obstacle  daunted  them.     By  tens  of 
thousands  they  poured  into  our  ranks,  and  soon  a 
hundred  thousand  threw  themselves  upon  the  foe. 
The  scale  soon  turned  in  our  favor.     Fort  Wagner, 
Fort  Pillow,  Port  Hudson,  Petersburg!!,  a  score   of 
battle-fields  the  most  bloody  and  the  most  glorious, 
all  speak  of  their  valor.     As  rushes  the  mighty  ava 
lanche  from  the  Alpine  heights,  so  rushed  they  amid 
the  hot  smoke  and  the  thunders  of  the  battle  upon 
the  traitor  foe.      On,  on,  through  trenches,  over 
ramparts,  up  to  the  very  mouths  of  the  cannons  that 
mowed  them  down,  they  bore  our  flag  to  victory, 
while  thousands,  from  whose  bosoms  the  hot  blood 
was  gushing,  turned  their  glaring  eyes   upward  to 
that  '  brave  old  flag,'  and   poured   out   their   last 
breath  in  cheers   for  victory  and  liberty.     Poor, 
brave,  deluded  men!      They  thought  they  were 
free.     Our  country  had  promised  them  freedom, 
and  even  in  dying  they  were  happy  because  they 
thought  it  was  true.     They  did  not  know  that  the 
very  people  for  whom  they  were  dying  would  have 
shamelessly    violated    their    solemn   promise  and 
turned  them  over  helpless  into  the  hands  of  their 
enraged  and  cruel  masters.     It  would  have  been 
better  had  they  all  died.     Alas  for  those  who  still 
live !     They  come  home  war-worn  and  weary  to 
find  that  their  fond  hope  of  liberty  was  only  a  de 
lusive  dream." 

On  the  10th,  Mr.  Ward  of  New  York  eloquently 
advocated  a  policy  of  Pieconstruction,  that  should 


IN   CONGRESS.  61 

secure  the  equal  rights  of  the  men^made  freemen. 
While  white  men  betrayed  their  country,  he  main 
tained  that  black  men  were  true  to  their  country. 
He  said,  "And  the  four  million  black  men  who  were 
the  slaves  and  under  the  control  of  the  rebels,  who 
were  away  from  the  Union  lines  and  its  protection, 
who  only  knew  God  because  they  saw  Him  in  the 
stars  and  heard  Him  in  the  winds — for  the  Bible  to 
them  was  a  forbidden  book — they  who  had  only 
known  the  flag  from  the  stripes  it  gave  them,  and 
the  Union  from  the  chains  it  bound  them  with;* 
they  who  from  the  first  sent  their  morning  and 
evening  prayers  to  Heaven  that  the  nation  might 
live,  who  furnished  our  soldiers  flying  from  captiv 
ity  and  death  with  guide  and  shelter,  food  and  fire, 
while  the  master  let  slip  bloodhounds  on  the  fugi 
tive's  track ;  who  of  the  four  millions  betrayed  a 
loyal  man  ?  Not  one  who  but  exposed  the  traitor 
master.  This  faithfulness  on  the  part  of  those 
poor,  simple,  ignorant  men,  is  to  my  mind  one  of 
the  grandest  phases  that  the  war  has  developed. 

How  strange  the  contrast  between  the  slave  in 
his  chains  and  the  master  who  had  been  pampered 
by  the  Government.  The  former  kissed  and  upheld 
the  rod  that  had  smitten  him,  the  latter  smote  the 
hand  that  had  fed  him.  And  yet  we  are  asked  at 
this  time  to  consign  these  loyal  men,  both  white 
and  black,  to  the  mercy,  as  I  have  said,  of  these 
rebels  and  enemies. 

I  am  free  to  say,  Mr.  Speaker,  that  if  such  is  to 


62  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

be  the  policy  of  this  Government,  it  is  recreant  to 
its  high  duty ;  it  is  unworthy  of  all  the  blood  shed 
and  treasure  expended  in  its  cause ;  it  deserves  to 
perish  in  its  ingratitude,  and  be  blotted  from  the 
face  of  the  earth." 

Mr.  Delano  of  Ohio  combated  the  doctrine  of 
dead  States  and  conquered  provinces,  and  eloquent 
ly  opposed  confiscation.  Mr.  Williams  of  Penn. 
followed  in  a  powerful,  brilliant  and  eloquent  speech. 
"The  rebellion,"  he  said,  "so  far,  at  least,  as  armed 
resistance  is  concerned,  is  over.  "We  still  tread, 
however,  on  the  ashes  of  an  unextinguished  vol 
cano — 'sup2iosito  cinere  doloso?  'An  earthquake's 
spoils  are  sepulchered  below.'  The  ground  still 
heaves  and  trembles  ;  the  fiery  flood  still  surges  and 
pulsates  beneath  our  feet ;  and  already,  almost  be 
fore  the  thunders  of  our  artillery  have  rolled  into 
the  distance,  and  while  the  smoke  of  battle  is  still 
upon  the  plain — without  a  moment's  pause  to  sur 
vey  the  wide  field  of  ruin,  and  reach  forward,  if 
possible,  with  telescopic  vision  into  all  the  bearings 
and  all  the  remotest  possible  consequences  of  the 
act  which  we  are  called  upon  to  do,  a  childish  im 
patience  is  urging  us  upon  a  path  where  angels 
might  fear  to  tread,  and  expecting  us  to  crowd  the 
structure  of  an  empire — the  ordinary  work  of  cen 
turies — into  the  deliberations  of  an  hour. 

****%%%:%: 

You  have  carried  the  cup  of  freedom  to  the  lips 
of  the  black  man  and  he  has  drunk  of  it.  If  you 


IN   CONGRESS.  63 

would  make  of  him  a  peaceful  citizen,  and  an  obe 
dient  member  of  the  State,  you  must  protect  him 
in  the  enjoyment  of  the  liberty  you  have  given 
him.  To  do  this  it  is  only  necessary  to  invest  him 
with  the  defensive  armor  of  the  ballot.  That  wih1 
secure  to  him  the  consideration  of  the  white  man. 
That  will  make  it  the  interest  of  the  superior  class 
es  to  cultivate  him.  That  will  educate  him  into  an 
intelligent  acquaintance  with  his  duties.  That  will 
secure  peace  and  harmony  to  the  land.  The  black 
man  has  shown  himself  to  be  as  docile,  gentle,  and 
humane  as  he  has  approved  himself  loyal  and  brave. 
He  will  make  a  valuable  citizen  if  fairly  dealt  with. 
But  remember !  he  is  a  man,  who  has  tasted  liberty, 
and  felt  the  glow  of  an  unaccustomed  manhood,  as 
his  pulse  danced  with  a  new  inspiration  when  he 
looked  up  at  the  folds  of  your  starry  banner  on  the 
perilous  edge  of  the  battle.  Beware  how  you  allow 
these  men,  who  have  never  yet  learned,  and  never 
will  learn  anything,  to  trample  on  him  now.  The 
policy  foreshadowed  in  the  proclamations  will  make 
only  a  discontented  people.  It  is  the  slogan  of  bat 
tle — the  herald's  denouncement  of  that  war  of  races, 
which  is  so  strangely  apprehended  by  those  who 
urge  the  very  opposite  policy  to  heal  up  a  war  of 
sections.  It  is  the  preparation  for  these  deluded 
people  of  a  future,  before  which  even  the  savage 
horrors  of  their  own  revolt  may  pale.  The  kindred 
policy  that  ruled  our  councils  in  the  same  interests 
for  two  long  years — as  it  seems  to  rule  them  now — 


64  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

proved  fatal  to  the  system  it  was  intended  to  serve, 
by  making  its  preservation  impossible.  It  may  be 
that  God  Almighty  intends  to  finish  His  great  work 
by  giving  a  further  rein  to  the  infernal  spirit  that 
precipitated  these  madmen  into  the  revolt  that 
melted  the  chains  of  their  slaves.  Let  us  see  to  it 
that  we  be  not  called  upon  to  repress  the  outbreak 
of  nature,  by  drawing  our  own  swords  hereafter 
upon  our  faithful  allies  in  the  war  of  freedom.  We 
can  prevent  this  now — and  will  if  we  are  wise — by 
a  mere  act  of  justice  that  is  simple  and  reasonable, 
and  will  trench  on  no  man's  rights,  while  it  will  ex 
tend  the  area  of  freedom  by  popularizing  these 
governments,  and  bringing  them  at  once  to  the  re 
publican  standard  of  the  Constitution.  That  act  is 
demanded  by  considerations  of  the  highest  wisdom, ; 
as  well  as  of  the  strictest  justice.  It  were  a  foul 
shame  to  refuse  it,  and  a  fouler  still  to  add  to  that 
refusal  the  future  possible  infamy  of  turning  our 
own  arms,  at  the  call  of  these  delinquents,  upon 
the  trusty  auxiliaries  who  have  assisted  in  subduing 
them,  when  the  tyranny  of  their  oppressors  and 
the  instinctive  yearnings  of  humanity,  may  drive 
them  to  resistance.  I  should  blush  for  my  country, 
and  weep  for  it,  too,  if  it  was  capable  of  an  atrocity 
so  unutterably  base. 

**%%%%%%: 

I  think  I  am  no  alarmist.  I  am  not  apt  to  in 
dulge  in  gloomy  auguries  in  regard  to  the  future  of 
a  nation  that  has  outlived  so  many  blunders  and 


IN    CONGRESS.  65 

been  so  often  ransomed  by  an  Almighty  arm.  The 
proverbial  honors  of  a  prophet  of  evil  have  no  at 
tractions  for  me.  Poesy  has  told  us  the  story  of 
Cassandra.  History  has  vouchsafed  to  hand  down 
to  us  the  name  and  fate  of  the  madman  who  ran 
up  and  down  the  streets  of  Jerusalem  crying  <  Woe ! 
woe!'  while  the  armies  of  Titus  were  encamped 
about  its  walls.  But  if  I  stood  alone  on  this  floor, 
and  it  were  my  last  utterance,  holding  the  high 
trust  which  God  had  given  me,  with  a  nation  in 
travail,  and  in  view  of  the  dark  portents  that  cloud 
the  horizon,  and  shake  the  very  atmosphere  around 
us,  I  would  say  to  the  people,  '  Awake  from  your 
false  security,  or  prepare  yourselves  for  another 
holocaust.  Your  enemy  still  lives.  His  '  impaired 
vitality'  has  been  restored.  Red-handed  treason 
rears  its  head  as  proudly  and  defiantly  and  insult 
ingly  as  before.  It  menaces  your  capital.  It  claims 
to  dictate  to  your  President.  It  presumes  to  use 
the  very  organs  of  your  Government  to  denounce 
your  attitude  as  a  revolutionary  one,  and  to  arraign 
your  servants  here  as  though  they  were  in  rebell 
ion  against  the  South.  It  moves  upon  the  citadel 
where  your  defenders  are  intrenched.  See  that  no 
warder  sleeps,  no  port  is  left  unguarded.  Look  to  it 
that  no  sentinel  unbars  your  gates.  Steel  the 
hearts  of  your  defenders  against  the  weakness  that 
would  betray  like  treason.  See  that  their  mail  is 
proof — no  joint  agape,  no  rivet  out  of  place.  See 
that  no  Trojan  horse,  no  Tennessee  with  fair  out* 
5 


66  RECONSTRUCTION  MEASURES 

side,  but  big  with  'pestilence  and  war/  shall  win  its 
way  within  your  walls.  When  these  great  crimi 
nals  do  return,  if  ever,  let  it  be  only  through  the 
door  that  you  shall  indicate,  and  with  such  infrang 
ible  and  irreversible  securities  as  you  only  have  the 
right  to  demand.'  This  is  my  position.  Here  I 
have  taken  my  stand,  and  by  the  help  of  God  I  will 
maintain  it  to  the  end.  Others  may  falter  in  the 
trial,  but  through  me  no  right  shall  be  abridged,  no 
privilege  surrendered,  no  single  leaf  plucked,  no 
jewel  torn  from  the  crown  of  the  representative 
body.1' 

On  the  15th,  Mr.  Newell  of  New  Jersey  said,  "If 
the  government  should  be  founded  on  the  rock  of 
true  Republicanism, '  universal  suffrage,'  then  in  the 
ages  to  come,  the  waves  of  death  and  darkness  may 
beat  against  it  and  beat  in  vain.  From  the  very 
nature  of  Republicanism,  as  understood  by  the 
fathers,  freedom  and  suffrage  are  concomitant,  twin 
sisters,  inseparable,  mutually  dependent  on  each 
other  for  support  and  existence.  Suffrage  follows 
freedom  as  light  follows  the  rising  of  the  sun.  It 
is  by  the  ballot  box  that  freedom  is  upheld  and  per 
petuated.  Unmindful  of  all  consequences  to  our 
selves,  individually,  but  impressed  with  our  respon 
sibility  to  all  mankind,  casting  our  vision  beyond 
the  present  and  into  the  far  distant  future,  let  us 
endeavor  to  re-establish  this  Government  upon  the 
enduring  principle  of  '  equal  and  exact  justice  to 
all  men,'  and  to  lay  its  foundations  deep  and  broad 


IN    CONGRESS.  67 

upon  the  eternal  rock  of  liberty  and  perpetual 
Union.  So  shall  our  beloved  country,  healed  of  her 
wounds,  and  disinthralled  from  the  enchantment 
which  has  bound  her  for  a  hundred  years,  spring 
into  a  new  existence,  to  exceed  in  grandeur  and 
greatness  the  wildest  visions  of  the  patriot  fath 
ers,  and,  her  banner,  planted  high  upon  the  ever 
lasting  hills  of  truth  and  justice,  and  illuminated 
by  the  sun  of  freedom,  shall  become  a  beacon  to 
the  oppressed  children  of  men,  who  shall  come 
hitherward  and  find  a  refuge  and  heritage  for  them 
selves  and  their  children,  and  their  children's  chil 
dren,  till  time  shall  be  no  more." 

On  the  17th  Mr.  Strouse  of  Penn.  declared  that 
rampant  radicalism,  and  bigoted  Puritanism  were  not 
yet  satisfied ;  and  Mr.  Defrees  of  Indiana  advocated 
the  early  admission  of  Tennessee.  Mr.  Cook  of 
Illinois  was  for  civil  rights,  for  the  freedmen's 
Bureau,  and  for  amendments  to  the  constitution 
securing  living  truths.  "We  have  seen,"  he  said, 
"  the  sure  results  of  injustice  and  oppression  in  this 
land  of  ours.  Are  we  not  wiser  now  than  before 
we  sought  to  establish  iniquity  by  law,  and  to  enter 
into  a  contest  in  which,  to  use  the  idea  of  Jefferson, 
every  attribute  of  the  Almighty  was  against  us? 
In  the  light  that  streams  so  full  and  clear  from  the 
last  four  years  of  our  history,  do  we  not  see  that 
they,  and  they  only,  win  at  last  who  work  with  God 
for  human  liberty  and  progress?" 

Mr.   Broomall  of  Penn.  introduced  resolutions 


68  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

setting  forth  that  the  Rebellion  had  deprived  the 
Eebel  States  of  governments,  and  that  it  was  the 
duty  of  Congress  to  enable  those  States  to  orga 
nize  State  governments.  Mr.  Lawrence  of  Ohio 
said  Mr.  Broomall's  resolution  declared  the  true 
theory  of  reconstruction ;  and  he  moved  an  addi 
tional  resolution  declaring  it  to  be  the  sense  of  the 
House  that  the  condition  of  the  rebel  States  justi 
fied  the  President  in  maintaining  military  posses 
sion  and  control  of  those  States.,  and  thanking  the 
President  for  employing  the  Avar  power  for  protec 
tion  of  loyal  citizens  and  freedmen.  Mr.  Cullom  of 
Illinois  said  that  Mr.  Harding  of  Kentucky  an 
nounced,  a  few  days  before, "  that  it  was  time  a  little 
posting  was  done,''  and  that  gentleman  had  passed 
silently  over  the  record  of  himself  and  his  party,  ; 
and  with  a  zeal  only  equalled  by  his  bitterness,  had 
undertaken  to  post  the  record  of  the  Union  party, 
which  had  stood  by  the  nation's  flag  and  borne  it 
aloft  amid  the  storm  of  war.  "We  are  not,"  he 
said,  "  the  men  to  shun  an  examination.  The  party 
which  has  shaped  the  policy  of  this  nation,  since 
the  election  to  the  Presidency  of  the  great  martyr 
to  the  cause  of  liberty,  and  which  has  never  turned 
its  back  upon  the  Government  in  its  contest  with 
treason  and  rebellion,  and  which  has  procured  the 
recognition  of  the  great  principles  of  freedom 
throughout  the  land,  has  no  cause  for  alarm  when 
it  is  proposed  to  spread  before  the  world  its  political 
record.  We  are  willing  that  the  items  of  the  account 


IN   CONGRESS.  69 

shall  be  called  over,  the  long  columns  added  to 
gether,  a  balance  sheet  struck,  so  that  the  people 
may  see  at  a  glance  how  the  matter  stands.  And 
may  I  call  upon  the  loyal  people  to  hold  to  strict 
accountability  the  party  who  is  the  debtor,  as  ap 
pears  from  a  posting  since  the  beginning  of  the 
accursed  rebellion." 

On  the  24th  the  debate  was  resumed,  and  Mr. 
Clarke  of  Ohio  spoke  earnestly.  "The  times  in 
which  we  live  and  the  people,"  said  he,  "with  whom 
we  have  to  deal  in  this  work,  are  wrorthy  of  careful 
consideration,  for  without  a  just  appreciation  of 
them,  we  have  no  assurance  that  our  labors  will  be 
either  wise  or  well-timed.  Old  things  are  passing 
away,  and  new  ones  are  taking  their  places ;  old 
ideas,  old  errors,  are  fading  out  in  the  sunlight  of 
truth,  and  old  customs  and  practices,  based  on  ex 
ploded  dogmas,  are  everywhere  crumbling  into 
ruins,  and  a  higher  and  holier  order  of  things  suc 
ceeds,  keeping  pace  with  the  moralizing  and  Christ 
ianizing  influences  which  mark  with  especial  signi 
ficance  the  ruling  spirit  of  the  times. 

Slavery,  that  but  a  short  time  since  was  received 
as  a  God-given  institution  to  man,  has  fallen  under 
the  ban  of  a  purer  morality,  and  gone  down  with 
the  curses  of  the  Christian  world  resting  upon  its 
memory.  Four  brief  years  have  done  the  work 
for  that  monstrous  institution  of  outrage  and  wrong 
and  crime  against  humanity. 

With  the  fall  of  slavery  must  also  fall  the  things 


70  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

pertaining  thereto ;  the  thing  that  was  yesterday 
a  chattel  is  to-day  a  man,  and  the  master  who  yes 
terday  had  his  heel  upon  the  neck  of  his  slave,  to 
day  meets  that  slave  upon  the  level  of  a  common 
equality  in  all  that  pertains  to  the  natural  and  civil 
rights  of  man." 

Mr.  Clarke  was  followed  by  Mr.  Plants  of  Ohio, 
in  an  able,  eloquent  and  philosophical  speech.  He 
said  "that  in  listening  to  gentlemen  I  have  been 
struck  with  the  oft  repeated  declaration  that  the 
Eebellion  was  causeless.  If  anything,  much  more 
an  event  of  the  magnitude  of  the  rebellion,  could 
happen  without  a  cause,  then,  indeed,  would  we  be 
afloat  upon  a  sea  of  chaos,  where  chart  and  com 
pass  would  be  but  useless  toys,  and  statesmanship 
a  term  without  meaning.  Everywhere  cause  and 
effect  are  married  together.  No  event  ever  did  or 
ever  can  happen  without  a  cause.  And  this  is  as 
true  in  the  rise  and  fall  of  nations  as  in  the  simplest 
occurrence  with  which  we  are  familiar.  It  is  true 
of  the  scene  through  which  we  have  passed.  The 
rebellion  had  a  cause — a  sufficient,  natural,  neces 
sary  cause — from  which  it  was  evolved  as  naturally 
as  the  rose  unfolds  from  the  bud. 

%#**%### 

Jeff  Davis  and  his  compeers  were  no  more  the 
cause  of  the  war,  than  the  scum  upon  the  surf  is 
the  cause  of  the  surf  itself."  He  maintained  that 
slavery  was  the  cause  of  the  war,  and  proceeded  to 
show  how  it  had  worked  out  its  results,  and  he  de- 


IN    CONGRESS. 

clared  himself  impatient  while  hearing  members  of 
the  Union  party  denounced  as  "radicals,  fanatics, 
revolutionists,  disunionists  and  enemies  of  the  coun 
try?  by  gentlemen  whose  position,  if  not  their  pur 
pose,  makes  them  the  accomplices  of  traitors.  I  say 
accomplices,  for  effects  follow  causes  regardless  of 
men's  motives.  *  I  say  here  in  my  place, 

without  following  our  brave  boys  through  rebel 
prison-pens  and  bloody  battle-fields,  to  unmarked 
graves,  that  every  one  of  them  owes  his  murder 
more  to  Northern  Democratic  ballots,  than  to 
Southern  Democratic  bullets.  Not  so  much,  sir,  to 
the  armed  rebel  at  the  South  as  to  his  Democratic 
fellow-partisan  at  the  North,  is  the  mother  indebted 
for  the  massacre  of  her  son,  the  wife  of  husband, 
and  the  orphan  children  of  their  father.  For  every 
life  so  sacrificed  and  dollar  expended  and  debt  in 
curred,  do  I  hold  those  and  their  partisans  respon 
sible,  who  with  brazen  cheeks  hurl  these  epithets 
at  us." 

Mr.  Beaman  of  Michigan  spoke  of  the  doubts, 
the  fears,  the  horror  and  gloom  that  marked  the 
rise  and  progress  of  the  rebellion.  "I  remember," 
he  said,  "  the  latter  days  of  February  and  the  early 
days  of  March  in  the  year  1861.  During  that  pe 
riod  of  feverish  excitement,  whether  or  not  the 
President-elect,  the  nation's  choice,  could  be  inau 
gurated  in  accordance  with  the  time-honored  custom 
of  the  country,  was  a  question  that  filled  the  minds 
of  many  good  men  with  painful  doubt  and  serious 


72  RECONSTRUCTION  MEASURES 

alarm.  I  seem  still  to  hear  the  lingering  echoes  of 
the  first  gun  discharged  upon  Sumter.  I  was  in 
Washington  when  our  defeated  and  routed  army 
came  straggling  into  the  city  from  the  field  of  Bull 
Run,  without  order  and  without  discipline,  inducing 
in  some  minds  despair,  and  consternation  every 
where.  I  remember  with  what  crushing  effect  the 
news  of  our  disasters  before  Richmond  in  the 
"  seven  days'  fights  "  fell  upon  the  loyal  heart  of  the 
country.  I  remember  that  discouragement  suc 
ceeded  hope  and  confident  expectation  when  the 
issue  of  the  struggle  at  Fredericksburg  was  known. 
I  do  not  forget  the  thick  gloom  that  settled  down 
upon  the  country  in  1862,  and  which  was  hardly 
lifted  in  1863.  I  never  can  forget  the  forty-five 
thousand  brave  but  mutilated  men  who  were  gath 
ered  into  hospitals  in  this  city  in  1864,  martyrs  to 
the  cause  of  liberty  in  the  masterly  campaign  of 
General  Grant. 

Those  were  sad,  dark  days,  whose  tinge  was  deep 
ened  by  the  frowns  and  hostile  intrigues  of  foreign 
nations.  But  sadder  still,  and  darker  and  more 
gloomy,  will  be  that  day  on  which  the  rebel  States 
shall  assume  the  control  of  our  national  Govern 
ment  ;  when,  without  guards  or  security  for  future 
good  conduct,  without  protection  to  the  blacks  and 
loyal  whites  who  have  freely  shed  their  blood  in 
our  defense,  the  seceded  districts  shall  be  declared 
reconstructed  and  restored  States,  and  again  launch 
ed  upon  their  career  of  oppression,  tyranny,  and 


IN   CONGRESS,  73 

crime.     But  I  pray  God— I  trust,  hope,  and  believe 
that  such  a  day  of  woe  may  never  come." 

Mr.  Bromwell  of  Illinois  eloquently  asserted  the 
complete  power  of  the  Government  over  the  rebel 
States,  and  justified  the  demand  for  further  guaran 
ties.  He  maintained  that  when  the  people  of  the 
South  "  ranged  themselves  in  front  of  the  armies 
of  this  nation  and  went  down  before  its  power,  they 
come  back  to-day  clad  with  no  more  rights  as  States 
than  the  laws  of  war  and  the  disposing  will  of 
the  people  accord  to  them.  They  tried  the 
wager  of  battle.  It  has  failed.  The  victor  comes 
in  and  is  clothed  eo  instanti  with  all  the  disposing 
power,  limited  alone  by  that  principle  of  public  law 
which  requires  the  victor  to  provide  necessary  and 
proper  regulations  for  the  vanquished  country ;  sub 
ject  further  to  that  principle  in  the  law  of  nations, 
growing  out  of  public  justice  and  public  policy, 
that  such  existing  laws  as  are  not  inimical  to  the 
conqueror  and  do  not  stand  in  his  way  shall  be  left 
for  the  common  benefit.  All  their  organizations, 
statutes,  constitutions,  charters,  contracts  which 
stand  in  the  way  of  this  go  down.  They  are  held 
to  be  shattered  and  crushed  by  the  stroke  of  the 
conquest,  and  lie  mingled  with  the  dust  of  their  de 
fending  ramparts.  This  was  the  stern  law  which 
they  invoked,  and  not  the  will  of  the  peaceable, 
law-abiding  people  of  this  Union.  They  come  with 
their  broken  constitution  and  their  violated  vows, 
with  the  flag  of  their  country  beneath  their  feet 


74  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

and  the  flag  of  secession  flaunting  its  folds  before 
heaven.  Here  they  come.  Legislature,  judiciary, 
army,  navy,  pirates,  guerrillas,  every  species  of 
force  which  they  can  collect  from  the  four  quarters 
of  this  land,  and  present  themselves  in  battle  array ; 
they  stand  until  the  force  and  power  which  they 
have  invoked,  whose  vengeance  and  whose  strength 
they  have  challenged,  has  hurled  them  to  the  dust. 
And  now,  while  writhing  beneath  the  stroke  of  the 
victor,  a  voice  comes  forth  saying  that  they  have 
the  same  rights  at  law  that  they  would  have  had 
had  they  been  marshaled  under  the  glorious  stars 
and  stripes,  and  fought  for  the  Union  and  for  liber 
ty — fought  in  the  same  cause  for  wrhich  our  heroes 
bled  and  fell.  They  come  here  to  demand  the  right 
to  legislate  for  the  people  of  this  country,  who 
have  not  yet  all  returned  from  the  mournful  task 
of  burying  the  mangled  dead  of  the  nation,  over 
whose  tombs  these  men  must  walk  to  take  their 
places  here.  They  seek  to  mingle  with  the  loyal 
defenders  of  the  country,  and  scarcely  deign  to 
take  their  shoulder-straps  from  off  their  clothes 
when  they  ask  to  sit  down  here  to  legislate  for  the 
men  of  Fort  Donelson,  Chickamauga,  and  Gettys 
burg.  They  come  here  to  legislate.  Who  ?  Think 
of  it  I  Governors  who  are  just  from  turning  over 
to  their  successors  galleries  appropriated  to  old 
secession  flags  which  they  have  gathered  to  place 
before  the  people,  to  remind  them  that  the  men 
whom  they  led  beneath  these  flags  have  fought  and 


IN   CONGRESS.  75 

gained  their  glory  in  a  war  against  their  country ; 
thus  to  keep  alive  secession  and  all  the  diabolical 
principles  which  nourish  and  sustain  it." 

On  the  3rd  of  March,  Mr.  McKee  of  Kentucky 
said :  "  We  are  told  on  this  floor  and  all  over  the 
country,  that  the  law  which  says  no  man  who  can 
not  take  the  oath  commonly  called  the  'test  oath/ 
is  unconstitutional,  that  it  is  a  disgrace  to  a  free 
people — ay,  sir,  it  does  disgrace  traitors — that  we 
had  no  authority  to  pass  it,  and  that  we  have  no 
power  under  the  Constitution  to  enforce  it  ^  that 
red-handed  traitors,  if  they  have  taken  an  oath  to 
support  the  Constitution,  have  as  much  right  to 
come  into  this  Capitol  and  legislate  for  the  people 
as  the  gallant  soldier  who  bore  the  flag  of  his  coun 
try  amid  the  smoke  and  thunder  of  battle,  and 
crushed  out  by  war  these  men  who  sought  the  life 
of  the  Republic ;  that  these  betrayers  of  their  coun 
try  have  equal  rights  and  are  to  stand  in  future 
side  by  side  in  equal  honor  and  esteem  with  the 
war-worn  veterans  of  four  long  weary  years  of  toil 
and  battle  to  save  the  nation  from  destruction.  Go 
tell  it  to  these  men,  and  they  will  hurl  it  back  with 
such  scorn  as  will  wither  him  who  dare  assert  it  in 
their  presence.  Go  tell  it  to  the  survivors  of  the 
twelve  thousand  heroes  who  in  the  low,  flat  marsh 
of  Belle  Isle,  passed  the  terrible  winter  of  1863 
and  1864,  and  the  ghosts  of  the  starved  and  freez 
ing  dead  of  that  pen  of  misery  will  confront  you 
with  the  living  heroes ;  and  if  shame  itself  does  not 


76  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

compel  you  to  call  back  the  assertion,  then  you 
have  not  the  heart  of  a  man.  Go  tell  it  to  the 
twelve  hundred,  who  in  the  same  winter  looked  out 
through  the  iron  bars  of  "  old  Libby's  "  gloomy  walls, 
and  in  sight  of  boxes  piled  up  across  the  street, 
stored  for  them  by  the  loved  ones  at  home  with  all 
the  necessaries  of  life,  starved  and  sickened  for 
food,  that  the  men  who  thus  insulted  them  through 
those  iron  bars,  taunted  them  and  stole  from  them 
the  bread  for  lack  of  which  so  many  died,  are  to  be 
their  law-givers  in  future,  and  you  change  humanity 
if  you  are  not  rebuked.  Go  tell  it  in  the  homes, 
once  happy  and  bright,  of  the  sixty  thousand 
starved  soldiers  who  died  in  loathsome  and  foul 
prison-pens,  that  the  men  who  committed  these  ter 
rible  crimes  against  them,  against  humanity  and 
God,  must  make  laws  for  the  widow  and  orphan  of 
the  dead,  and  if  your  heart  is  not  seared  and  cold 
as  death,  you  will  see  the  ghosts  of  their  lean  and 
wasted  forms  rise  up  before  you  and  hear  their 
sepulchral  voices  crying,  '  Back,  back,  back  !  Hide 
yourself  along  with  the  traitor  whose  cause  you 
come  to  plead.'" 

Mr.  McKee  declared  he  would  never  join  in  the 
surrender  of  the  fruits  of  victory  bought  by  four 
weary  years  of  blood.  The  debate  was  continued 
by  Mr.  Loan  of  Missouri;  he  said:  "The  bullet  is 
the  freeman's  only  safety  in  this  country,  when  he 
is  deprived  of  the  ballot ;  the  ballot  and  peace,  or 
the  bullet  and  war,  are  the  alternatives  between 


IN    CONGRESS.  77 

which  the  Eepublic  must  choose.  Mr.  Thornton  of 
Illinois  asked,  "why  degrade  this  people  more  and 
longer  ?  They  proffer  the  only  test  you  have  the 
right  to  require — obedience  to  the  Constitution  and 
the  laws  of  the  land.  Why  indulge  in  abuse  and 
suspicion  ?  This  will  only  inflame.  Lord  Bacon 
says,  '  Suspicions  among  thoughts  are  like  bats 
among  birds,  they  fly  only  by  twilight.'  No  gen 
erous  thought,  no  noble  emotion  can  ever  come 
from  the  dark  caverns  of  a  mind  filled  with  hate 
and  suspicion.  Love  and  confidence  can  never  be 
forced,  they  must  be  won  by  soft  words  and  gen 
tle  acts.  If  those  States  are  ever  to  be  bound  to 
gether  in  an  equal  and  enduring  union  by  us,  we 
must  rise  to  the  high  dignity  of  true  manhood  and 
Christian  charity,  and  bury  forever  the  feelings  of 
distrust  which  now  haunt  the  mind.  The  charge 
is  constantly  made  that  the  Southern  people  are 
perfidious ;  that  they  will  keep  no  pledges ;  that 
no  oath  will  bind  them.  Can  they  ever  accept  your 
conditions-precedent  tendered  in  such  a  spirit? 
Never !  They  will  never  agree  to  make  the  slave 
of  yesterday,  the  social  and  political  equal  of  to-day. 
They  would  deserve  and  receive  even  your  scorn 
if  they  would  accept  of  so  degrading  a  condition. 
Unless  they  can  come  in  as  co-equal  States  they 
will  never  come.  You  may  call,  'but  will  they 
come  when  you  do  call  for  them  ? '  What  then  ? 
Force  will  govern  and  history  will  re-write  itself, 


78  RECONSTRUCTION    MEASURES 

and  the  tyranny  over  Hungary  and  Poland  and 
Ireland  will  be  re-enacted  in  once  free  America." 

Mr.  -Kuykendall  of  Illinois  thought  the  best 
security  of  the  government  was  the  complete  and 
utter  failure  of  the  late  rebellion.  Mr.  Finck  of 
Ohio  thought  war  had  done  its  work  most  effectu 
ally,  and  that  the  Southern  people  ought  to  be  at 
once  admitted  with  all  their  rights,  and  enjoy,  as 
equals  and  brothers  the  priceless  heritage  which 
had  come  down  from  an  illustrious  ancestry. 

On  the  10th  the  debate  was  resumed  by  Mr. 
Orth  of  Indiana.  He  said,  "Congress  has  no  diffi 
culty  in  coming  to  the  conclusion  whose  voice  they 
should  obey.  Slowly,  surely,  deliberately  we  shall 
pursue  our  work,  determined  to  do  it  right  so  far 
as  we  can,  under  the  providence  of  God,  perceive 
the  right,  regardless  of  clamor,  abuse,  or  vituper 
ation." 

Mr.  Stevens  followed  Mr.  Orth.  He  maintained 
that  in  civil  wars  the  parent  government  might  ex 
ercise  both  belligerent  and  sovereign  rights.  The 
rebels  he  declared  had  not  been  punished.  They 
had  exchanged  forgiveness  with  the  President  and 
been  sent  on  their  way  rejoicing.  "I  have  never," 
he  said,  "desired  bloody  punishments  to  any  great 
extent,  even  for  the  sake  of  example.  But  there 
are  punishments  quite  as  appalling,  and  longer  re 
membered,  than  death.  They  are  more  advisable, 
because  they  would  reach  a  greater  number.  Strip 
a  proud  nobility  of  their  bloated  estates ;  reduce 


IN    CONGRESS.  79 

them  to  a  level  with  plain  republicans ;  send  them 
forth  to  labor,  and  teach  their  children  to  enter  the 
workshops  or  handle  the  plow,  and  you  will  thus 
humble  the  proud  traitors.  Teach  his  posterity  to 
respect  labor  and  eschew  treason.  Conspiracies  are 
bred  among  the  rich  and  the  vain,  the  ambitious 
aristocrats.  I  trust  yet  to  see  our  confiscation  laws 
fully  executed ;  and  then  the  malefactors  will  learn 
that  what  Congress  has  seized  as  enemy's  property 
and  invested  in  the  United  States,  cannot  be  divest 
ed  and  returned  to  the  conquered  belligerent  by 
the  mere  voice  of  the  Executive.  I  hope  to  see 
the  property  of  the  subdued  enemy  pay  the  dam 
ages  clone  to  loyal  men,  North  and  South,  and  help 
to  support  the  helpless,  armless,  mutilated  soldiers 
who  have  been  made  wretched  by  this  unholy  war. 
I  do  not  believe  the  action  of  the  President  is  worth 
a  farthing  in  releasing  the  property  conquered  from 
the  enemy,  from  the  appropriation  made  of  it  by 
Congress." 

"Why,"  asked  Mr.  Goodyear,  "this  effort  to  prove, 
by  reference  to  Grotius,  Vattel,  Puffendorf,  and  I 
know  not  what  array  of  antiquated  authorities,  that 
the  South  by  the  war  have  forfeited  all  political 
rights  ?  Why,  if  the  battle-cry  of  the  Union,  which 
gave  to  the  party  its  victories ;  which  sustained  the 
hopes  of  the  people  through  all  the  vicissitudes  of 
this  terrible  war ;  which  cheered  on  the  army  of 
the  Potomac  in  its  bloody  track  from  the  Eapidan 
to  the  James,  and  stimulated  and  sustained  the  army 


80  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

of  Sherman  in  its  wondrous  march,  was  not  a  fic 
tion  ;  why,  if  the  very  name  assumed  is  not  a  de 
lusion  and  a  sham,  why  these  endless  speeches  to 
prove  that  the  southern  States  are  out  of  the 

Union?" 

#####*## 

'  But,  in  this  fratricidal  policy  to  which  the  party 
is  so  blindly  committed,  I  warn  gentlemen  they  will 
fail.  The  purpose  is  as  criminal  as  the  southern 
rebellion,  and  will  be  equally  unsuccessful.  No 
matter  how  formidable  the  array  of  authorities  by 
which  you  seek  to  sustain  your  position,  I  care  not 
if  every  writer  upon  international  law  that  can  be 
raked  up  from  the  musty  records  of  the  past,  may 
be  cited  to  make  the  right  of  exclusion  impregna 
ble.  The  people,  in  every  dollar  contributed  to  the 
prosecution  of  this  war,  in  every  son  sacrificed 
upon  the  altar  of  the  Union,  every  tear  shed,  every 
drop  of  blood  spilled,  every  groan  of  anguish  ut 
tered,  have  declared  that  it  shall  not  be  the  fact. 
A  people  who  have  shown  themselves  capable  of 
enduring  all  the  calamities  of  a  war  unparalleled 
in  history  in  support  of  one  fixed  idea,  the  Union, 
will  scatter  to  the  winds,  alike  the  dicta  of  school 
men  and  the  sophistries  of  politicians." 

"We  must  hasten,"  said  Mr,  Ashley  of  Nevada, 
tfin  our  policy  of  reconstruction,  for  there  is  a 
growing  impatience  to  have  the  country  quieted. 
The  late  rebel  States  have  accepted  the  abolition 
of  slavery.  Now,  suppose  complete  restoration  is 


IN   CONGRESS.  81 

• 

proffered  with  these  other  bases  of  organic  law — 
equal  power  and  representation  to  every  citizen 
voter  throughout  the  nation  ;  no  taxation  to  pay 
debts  or  obligations  incurred  in  warring  against  the 
Union,  and  no  gratuity  or  donation  for  services 
against  our  country  ;  no  compensation  for  los$  or 
emancipation  of  slaves ;  loyal  men  to  be  accepted 
as  Senators  and  Representatives  from  the  now  un 
represented  States — ought  not  the  offer  to  be  ac 
cepted  by  those  we  have  spared  from  the  sword, 
and  cannot  we,  the  victors,  generously  grant  these 
terms  ?  Yes ;  and  the  loyal  masses  who  sustained 
your  Government  through  the  late  trials,  will  not 
falter  in  your  support.  Only  present  your  plan  of 
reconstruction,  rather  than  theories  and  modes  of 
exclusion,  and  the  clouds  that  now  darken  our  pros 
pect  will  give  way  from  horizon  to  zenith,  leaving 
all  bright  in  a  restored  and  strengthened  country." 
"How  beautifully,"  said  Mr.  Holmes  of  New 
York,  "the  dictates  of  international  law  harmon 
ize  with  our  duty  to  the  freedman.  'To  deliver  an 
oppressed  people  is  a  noble  fruit  of  victory,'  These 
people  are  nominally  free,  but  really  slaves.  \Ye 
must,  in  the  language  of  the  emancipation  proclama 
tion,  '  recognize  and  maintain  their  freedom.'  This 
duty,  repudiated  elsewhere.,  appeals  to  us  with  a 
double  power.  Whatever  others  may  do,  we  must 
neither  hesitate  nor  turn  back  from  its  full  perform 
ance.  By  us  it  must  neither  be  repudiated,  evaded, 
or  compromised.  The  right  of  these  people  to  life, 
6 


82  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  to  protection 
of  person  and  property,  to  equal  and  exact  justice 
and  privileges  before  the  law,  and  in  all  courts  and 
proceedings,  must  be  freely  conceded  and  amply 
guarantied.  When  these  things  shall  be  done,  and 
the  rebellion  suppressed  in  fact  as  well  as  name  ; 
when  loyalty  shall  be  the  rule  instead  of  the  ex 
ception;  when  the  States  lately  in  rebellion  shall 
recognize  and  enforce  the  great  truths  of  the  Dec 
laration  of  Independence,  and  guaranty  to  all  their 
people,  without  distinction  of  race  or  color,  the 
blessings  and  privileges  of  free  governments,  then 
will  our  government  have  reached  the  position  de 
signed  for  it  by  its  founders ;  then  will  it  have  fully 
entered  upon  that  mission  of  beneficence  and  jus 
tice  which  is  to  regenerate  a  continent  and  bless  the 
world." 

On  the  17th  the  debate  on  the  President's  Mes 
sage  was  resumed  by  Mr.  Hill  of  Indiana.  He 
thanked  God  that "  despite  the  gigantic  efforts  of  the 
vast  horde  of  parracidal  hands  and  traitorous  hearts 
that  had  sought  the  destruction  of  the  great  fabric 
reared  by  the  immortal  of  the  land,  that  now  the 
nation's  ensign  still  proudly  floats  over  every  por 
tion  of  the  nation's  domain ;  that  the  integrity  and 
perpetuity  of  the  Kepublic  was  vindicated,  its 
strength  made  terrible,  the  last  traitor  disarmed 
and  begging  permission  to  return  to  the  Halls  from 
whence  they  so  scornfully  retired.  Slavery,  the 
great  curse  and  crime,  the  most  damning  stain  that 


IN   CONGRESS.  83 

"'^i^-  „—-*---  "* 

ever  blotted  the  escutcheon  of  free  government, 
existed  no  more."  Mr.  Dumont  of  Indiana  said : 
"  Some  gentlemen  seem  to  be  anxious  to  hear  within 
this  Hall  the  crack  of  the  plantation  whip,  and  to 
have  a  manifestation  of  plantation  manners  as  in 
days  of  other  years  ;  and  as  sure  as  God  lives  they 
will  be  abundantly  gratified  if  the  policy  of  letting 
in  the  rebel  States  without  guarantees  shall  pre 
vail.  I  am  opposed  to  it.  It  will  prove  unwise, 
ruinous,  and  disastrous ;  and  I  stand  here  to  raise 
my  voice  against  it.  What  we  may  do  cannot  be 
undone  ;  let  us  not,  therefore,  be  guilty  of  the  folly 
of  him  who  marries  in  a  hurry  and  repents  at  leis 
ure.  A  mistake  in  the  matter  is  fatal ;  let,  there 
fore,  what  we  have*  suffered  in  the  past  illuminate 
our  pathway  in  the  present.  I  entertain  no  feel 
ing  of  revenge  against  this  deluded  people.  I 
would  exact  nothing  with  a  mere  view  to  humilia^ 
tion.  I  would  do  nothing  that  is  merely  vexatious. 
I  would  exact  no  condition-precedent  that  I  did 
not  regard  vital  to  the  full  fruition  of  our  victory 
and  the  future  safety  of  the  Union.  Vengeance  be 
longs  not  to  man.  In  the  hands  of  Him  to  whom 
alone  it  belongs  let  it  be  left."  Mr.  Anderson  of 
Missouri  said,  "  The  great,  the  living,  the  vital  ques 
tion  of  the  hour  is  the  extension  of  suffrage  to  the 
negro  in  the  Southern  States,  with  a  view  to  his 
own  protection  and  the  maintenance  of  loyal  su 
premacy  in  the  Union." 

On  the  24th  the  debate  upon  the  Message  was 


84  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

resumed  by  Mr.  Moulton  of  Illinois.  He  said,  "the 
Democratic  party  knew  the  President  and  his  in 
stincts  better  than  the  Union  party. 

The  Union  party  thought  him  true,  honest,  and 
patriotic,  but  in  this  have  they  not  been  shame 
fully  deceived  and  betrayed  ? 

&         &         &         %         %         &         &         & 

Ingratitude  in  all  ages  of  the  world  has  been  re 
garded  a  crime  of  so  damning  a  character  that  no 
man  has  ever  been  willing  to  acknowledge  himself 
guilty  of  it.  And  yet,  in  my  opinion,  Andy  John 
son  will  go  down  to  posterity,  not  only  as  the  betray 
er  of  his  party,  but  as  an  ingrate.  infamous  in  all 
time  to  come  to  all  honorable  men. 

#         #         #         #         ###         &         # 

This  Government  will  be  preserved  with  all  its 
glories  and  its  inestimable  blessings.  Those  who 
J^ave  defended  this  Union  against  the  machinations 
of  rebels  and  traitors,  will  take  care  that  all  the 
privileges,  immunities,  and  guarantees  of  this  Gov 
ernment  shall  be  transmitted  unimpaired  to  pos 
terity. 

Let  justice,  humanity,  liberty,  and  equality  ever 
be  the  motto  of  the  American  Eepublic." 

Mr.  Moulton  was  followed  by  Mr.  Myers  of  Penn. 
"We  are  passing,"  he  said,  "through  the  most  in 
teresting  periods  of  American  History.  No  higher 
duties,  no  graver  responsibilities,  no  prouder  privi 
leges  ever  devolved  upon  men,  than  those  which 
the  American  people  have  accepted  and  discharged 


IN   CONGRESS.  85 

* 

in  the  last  five  years.  Every  attribute  of  manhood 
has  "been  called  forth  by  the  struggle  for  a  nation's 
existence,  until  purified  by  the  ordeal  we  have 
risen  in  the  scale  of  honor  and  of  civilization. 
Happy  in  the  arts  of  peace,  treason's  poisoned  dag 
ger  found  us  unarmed.  Yet  to-day  rebellion  and 
treason  lie  prostrate,  while  the  slave  power  which 
for  years  sapped  the  foundations  of  our  liberties,  at 
last  striking  at  the  life  of  the  Republic,  learned,  in 
its  own  dying  agonies,  that  there  is  nothing  so  ter 
rible  as  the  wrath  of  a  free  people.  I  need  not  re 
count  the  story  of  these  years  of  battle,  when  the 
rivers  were  reddened  and  the  fields  drenched  with 
the  blood  of  those  who  should  have  been  brothers. 
The  right  has  triumphed.  Un sympathizing  nations 
abroad  have  taken  good  heed  of  it.  We  are  at  this 
time  the  most  powerful  empire  on  the  globe.  Nor 
have  I  the  time  to  signalize  acts  of  heroism  where 
all  were  heroes.  The  trumpet  of  fame  will  be 
broken  when  they  are  forgotten.  Who  shall  tell  of 
the  unreturning  brave  or  sprinkle  over  their  graves 
the  sweet  incense  of  a  nation's  gratitude  ?  Un 
numbered  thousands  of  them  went  down  to  death, 
willingly  as  the  bridegroom  to  the  altar. 

:|:  *  *  *  #  #  #  * 

There  is  not  a  man  in  this  House  who  does  not 
desire  the  restoration  of  the  functions  of  every 
southern  State  at  the  earliest  moment  consistent 
with  the  security  of  the  whole.  The  Union  was 
our  watchword  and  battle  cry,  our  pillar  of  cloud  by 


86  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

day  and  pillar  of  fire  by  night ;  our  Army  was 
known  only  as  the  Army  of  the  Union.  The  great 
party  which,  rising  above  partisanship,  prosecuted 
the  war  to  a  successful  close,  was  the  party  of  the 
Union.  From  the  first  shot  at  Sumter,  all  over  the 
land,  prouder  than  oriflamme  or  crescent,  in  every 
valley,  on  every  mountain,  from  every  window  and 
house-top  of  the  North,  wherever  our  keels  plowed 
the  waters  or  the  eddying  waves  of  battle  were  the 
reddest,  the  flag  of  the  Union  floated  in  beauty  with 
not  a  star  omitted  on  its  field  of  azure.  For  this 
the  conflict  was  accepted.  For  this  the  victory  was 
won.  This  was  the  sacred  trust  we  inherited,  and 
the  Union  so  admirably  formed,  cleansed  now  of  its 
only  blemish,  we  hope  to  hand  down  to  the  latest 
generation. 

It  will  be  a  proud  day  when,  their  rehabilitation 
complete,  the  loyal  Eepresentatives  from  all  of  them 
can  meet  here,  beneath  the  shadow  of  the  old  flag, 
remembering  its  glories,  rejoicing  in  its  triumphs, 
consecrating  it  for  the  dominion  of  a  continent  in 
the  future,  and  still  unfolding  its  undying  promise 
to  the  oppressed  throughout  the  world.  When  that 
time,  I  trust  not  far  distant,  shall  come,  paeans  of 
joy  will  be  chanted  all  over  the  land,  and  the  thun 
der  from  a  thousand  brazen  throats,  speeding  over 
hill  and  prairie  and  river,  will  be  echoed  far  across 
the  sea,  proclaiming  in  tones  never  again  to  be  mis 
taken,  that  American  liberty  and  American  union 
shall  go  hand,  in  hand  down  the  pathway  of  the 


IN    CONGRESS.  87 

ages.  God  speed  the  day !  But  while  it  is  a  beau 
tiful  thing  to  be  merciful,  it  is  still  grander  to  do 
right.  Disloyal  practices,  unjust  legislation,  oppres 
sion,  and  wrong  must  not  again  be  the  stepping- 
stones  to  power.  These  local  governments,  in  their 
reconstruction,  must  be  built  on  the  eternal  princi 
ples  of  right,  or  crumbling  upon  their  -own  citizens, 
they  may  once  more  shake  to  their  foundations  the 
very  pillars  of  the  temple  of  liberty." 

Mr.  Buckland  advocated  the  early  admission  of 
Tennessee.  He  was  followed  by  Mr.  Hart  of  New 
York,  who  made  an  earnest  plea  for  security  and 
protection  to  the  freedmen.  "We  do  not,"  said  Mr. 
Hart,  "  ask  for  bloody  retribution  on  their  crime  ; 
we  only  demand  security  for  the  future,  protection 
to  all,  universal  freedom,  and  no  discrimination 
under  the  law  against  any  human  being  within 
their  borders.  We  have  inaugurated  a  great  social 
revolution  in  the  southern  States— a  fundamental 
change  in  social  order.  Shall  we  leave  it  incom 
plete  and  throw  it  under  the  control  of  men  whose 
education,  habits,  and  prejudices  are  in  deadly  an 
tagonism  to  its  further  progress  ?  While  the  negro 
was  property  he  was  certain  of  at  least  so  much  care 
and  protection  as  his  owner  would  give  his  horse 
or  his  ox,  because  he  possessed  a  pecuniary  value. 
Now  that  the  tie  of  property  is  severed,  he  is  left 
to  the  tender  mercy  of  men  who  look  upon  him 
with  hate  and  detestation,  and  blindly  hold  him  to 
bitter  account  as  the  cause  of  all  their  present 


88  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

troubles.  They  will  be  slow  to  elevate  the  chattel 
to  the  dignity  of  the  man.  They  may  talk*  brave 
ly  of  giving  him  his  rights,,  but  their  ideas  of  hu 
man  rights  are  not  ours.  They  have  been  bred  in 
a  school  which  has  taught  them  that  a  black  man 
can  have  no  rights  which  they  are  bound  to  re 
spect.  They  have  no  comprehension  of  that  pure 
republican  faith  with  which  we  of  the  North  are  im 
bued,  which  recognizes  all  men  equal  before  the 
law,  and  that  in  the  framework  of  free  society  all 
men  should  have  equal  share  in  its  development 
and  progress  " 

Mr.  Lawrence  of  Ohio  spoke  against  paying  for 
slaves;  and  was  followed  by  Mr.  Grider  of  Ken 
tucky. 

On  the  7th  of  April  Mr.  Hogan  of  Missouri  ad 
dressed  the  House  on  the  policy  of  reconstruction. 
He  thought  the  existence  of  slavery  in  this  country 
was  a  great  question  of  Providence.  "The  black 
race  were  brought  to  this  country  from  Africa 
through  the  cupidity  of  men.  A  great  wrong  was 
perpetrated  by  that  cupidity,  but  the  great  all-see 
ing  Gocl  has  overruled  all  this  for  their  good  and 
for  the  good  of  the  world.  In  my  judgment  they 
were  permitted  to  come  to  this  country  where  they 
might  be  taught  Christian  civilization,  the  rights 
of  man,  and  the  immunities  of  freedom ;  where  they 
might  be  instructed.  Thus  Providence  intends  that 
they  shall  sweep  back  again  into  the  great  dark 
continent  where  no  light  of  civilization  or  Chris- 


IN    CONGRESS.  89 

tianity  has  ever  penetrated,  in  order  that  the  news 
of  salvation  through  them  may  be  carried  to  the 
very  ends  of  the  earth." 

"I  confess/'  said  Mr.  Baldwin  of  Massachusetts, 
"that  I  have  not  sympathized  with  that  eager  zeal 
which  dreamed  of  seeing  treason,  all  hot  with  the 
fierce  fires  of  the  war,  suddenly  lower  its  tempera 
ture,  change  its  heart  and  its  habits,  throw  off  its 
chronic  hatred  of  the  Government,  and  restore  the 
insurgent  States  to  honest  patriotism  and  proper 
organization  during  the  first  weeks  or  months  after 
the  overthrow  of  its  armies." 

Mr.  Baldwin  was  in  favor  of  sweeping  away  with 
slavery  the  lawlessness  created  by  it,  and  of  giving 
to  the  freedmen  the  ballot  as  a  wonderful  power  for 
his  protection.  He  said,  "  It  is  undeniably  the  aim 
of  the  old  pro-slavery  spirit,  to  reduce  them  to  a 
condition  as  nearly  like  that  of  slavery  as  circum 
stances  will  admit ;  a  condition  that  would  yield  all 
the  advantages  of  slavery  without  any  of  its  incum- 
brances.  The  hatred  which  has  declared  the  free 
dom  of  these  people  a  calamity  conspires  diligently 
to  make  it  so ;  the  Government  is  angrily  forbidden 
to  interfere  with  its  operations ;  and  if  there  be  an 
epithet  of  contumely  and  reproach  that  has  not 
been  hurled  at  those  who  would  allow  these  people 
the  protection  they  need,  it  must  be  some  black 
guard  epithet  not  yet  invented.  But  the  moun 
tains  with  which  barbarism  blocks  the  way  of  jus 
tice,  will  tumble  down  and  disappear.  The  powers 


90  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

of  darkness  will  not  triumph  in  this  contest ;  and 
whoever  enlists  in  their  service,  be  he  high  or  be  he 
low,  will  certainly  discover  that  truth  and  justice, 
guided  by  divine  Providence,  move  onward  to  their 
triumph  with  a  resistless  force  to  which  every  ob 
struction  must  yield." 

Mr.  LeBlond  of  Ohio  would  obliterate  every 
event  of  the  fearful  struggle,  and  leave  it  a  blank 
in  the  history  of  a  great  people ;  he  thought  silence 
and  magnanimity  the  surest  safeguards ;  harsh  and 
oppressive  measures  never  healed  the  wounded 
spirit,  nor  aroused  the  attachment  that  inspired 
patriotism.  He  said:  "While  the  booming  of  hos 
tile  guns  rattled  the  windows  of  the  very  Capitol, 
and  the  dome  itself  trembled  at 

'  The  muffled  tread  of  thousands,' 

none  could  be  found  on  that  side  of  the  House  who 
was  not  willing  to  sacrifice  even  the  Constitution 
to  preserve  the  Union,  enforce  the  laws,  and  restore 
peace  and  tranquility.  But  now,  when  the  dread 
legions  of  the  South  are  driven  back,  decimated 
and  crushed,  when  the  clash  of  arms  echoes  faintly 
through  the  vista  of  time,  now,  when  the  triumph 
of  the  Union  is  complete  for  the  first  time,  the  doc 
trine  of  dead  States,  dissevered  Union,  alien  ene 
mies,  subjugated  provinces,  and  enabling  acts  is 
gravely  advanced  and  considered.  Vattel,  Grotius, 
and  Rutherford  have  hitherto  been  but  ornaments 
to  the  well-furnished  law  library,  or  used  only  to 


IN    CONGRESS.  91 

teach  the  student  the  principles  that  govern  sepa 
rate  nations  in  their  intercourse." 

Mr.  Lawrence  of  Ohio  spoke  for  civil  rights  : — 
if  the  Constitution  should  be  interpreted  as  its  lan 
guage  requires,  then  the  men  of  that  day  and  of 
all  time  might  enjoy  its  blessings. 

Mr,  Clarke  of  Kansas  said:  "While  we  are  here 
assembled  to  legislate  for  the  protection,  welfare, 
and  permanent  salvation  of  the  nation,  the  ene 
mies  of  the  Union  and  of  Freedom  are  still  boldly 
contending  for  the  control  or  the  destruction  of  the 
Government.  The  form,  but  not  the  character,  of 
the  contest  has  changed.  Beaten  upon  the  battle 
field,  the  pestilent  politicians  of  the  rebel  States, 
aided  by  their  more  pestilent  northern  allies,  con 
tinue  the  contest  at  the  ballot-box  with  a  renewed 
hope  and  with  the  same  inflexible  and  malicious 
purposes.  Let  me  say  here,  sir,  that  under  these 
solemn  circumstances,  the  duties  of  all  loyal  and 
patriotic  men  are  as  stern,  unyielding,  and,  if  neces 
sary,  should  be  as  self-sacrificing  as  the  duties  of 
the  soldiers  of  the  Union  who  went  forth  to  fight 
our  battles,  to  struggle,  to  suffer,  and  to  die.  Sir, 
we  are  not  worthy  to  be  the  legislators  of  the  Re 
public  in  this  great  crisis,  if  we  do  not  possess  that 
unflinching  courage  and  that  unswerving  fidelity, 
necessary  to  gather  up  the  logical  results  of  the 
war,  and  base  upon  them  a  more  perfect  freedom 
and  a  grander  nationality."  • 

Mr.  Benjamin  of  Missouri  was  in  favor  of  welcom- 


92  RECONSTRUCTION    MEASURES 

ing  home  the  erring,  and  overlooking  their  crimes ; 
but  of  reserving  the  White  House,  the  Council 
Halls,  and  the  Judicial  ermine  for  the  loyal :  "  Give 
them/'  he  said,  "to  your  eldest,  your  first-born,  your 
loyal  and  faithful  sons  the  control  of  your  posses 
sions  for  all  time  to  come,  by  laws  as  unchangeable 
as  the  everlasting  hills ;  as  unalterable  as  those  of 
the  Medes  and  Persians.  Let  Tennessee  or  any 
other  State  assume  that  attitude,  and  she  is  wel 
come  to  these  Halls.  Let  this  be  known  as  the 
policy  of  the  Government,  to  be  observed  in  all  time 
to  come,  and  you  may  rely  upon  it,  '  treason  will  be 
odious,'  and  our  land  will  never  again  be  drenched 
with  fraternal  blood." 

Mr.  Nicholson  of  Delaware  said  that  "the  sad 
dest  feature  of  all  this  scene  is  the  vindictive  spirit 
which  gentlemen  manifest  in  everything  that  re 
lates  to  the  unhappy  South.  Have  we  had  intro 
duced  here  any  measures  for  the  relief  of  that 
sorely  stricken  land?  Have  gentlemen  applied 
themselves  to  heal  the  ravages  of  war  and  encour 
age  a  defeated,  humiliated  people  to  resume  their 
former  position  and  contribute,  as  before,  their 
share  to  the  national  greatness  and  wealth  ?  Alas ! 
no.  But  what  instead  do  we  see  ?  The  carnival  of 
death  has  ceased,  but  gentlemen  are  not  willing  yet 
to  be  cheated  of  their  prey,  and  they  carry  on  the 
war  in  another  shape.  Instead  of  shot  and  shell, 
these  valiant  warriors  now  fire  at  them  such  acts 


IN    CONGRESS.  93 

of   Congress  as    the  Freedmen's  Bureau  and  civil 
rights  bills." 

"These  four  years  of  blood  and  anguish,"  said 
Mr.  Perham  of  Maine,  "have  been  the  fearful  pun 
ishment  for  our  refusal  to  obey  the  demands  of 
God's  eternal  justice.  The  sins  of  the  fathers  as 
well  as  our  own  have  fallen  upon  us  with  terrible 
consequences,  and  are  to  be  visited  upon  coming 
generations  in  the  shape  of  an  enormous  debt.  And 
now,  though  we  have  given  the  colored  man — what 
we  had  no  right  to  withhold  from  him — his  liberty, 
if  we  fail  to  give  him  the  common  rights  of  citizens 
we  may  depend  on  still  further  judgments  from  Him 
who  made  the  black  men  black,  and  the  white  men 
white,  and  stamped  upon  both  His  own  image. 

*  #  #  :}:  #  $  *  $ 

There  is  a  grandeur  in  the  contest  we  are  enter 
ing  amounting  to  the  sublime.  Our  people  have 
stood  unawed  and  invincible  in  the  midst  of  the 
thunder  and  smoke  of  terrible  battle,  when  carnage 
and  death  held  high  carnival.  It  remains  for  us  to 
show  to  the  nations  of  the  earth  that  we  can  stand 
erect  in  this  moral  conflict,  and,  with  hearts  strong 
and  undaunted,  meet  every  responsibility  incident 
to  the  great  work  which  devolves  upon  us.  The 
result  of  this  conflict  is  not  doubtful.  We  may  not 
now  be  worthy  to  enter  the  promised  land  of  peace 
and  prosperity  which  lies  before  us.  Months  and 
years  even  of  severe  conflict  may  intervene,  but 
we  shall  surely  win  at  last.  While  God  sits  on  His 


94  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

throne,  right  and  justice  are  indestructible.  Men 
may  attempt  to  raise  their  puny  arms  and  fight 
against  His  purposes,  but  they  will  be  paralyzed. 
The  man  who  expects  to  turn  the  Union  party  of 
this  country  from  its  convictions  of  duty  by  execu 
tive  influence,  will  soon  find  he  has  mistaken  the 
men  who  compose  it.  They  have  written  their 
principles  in  letters  of  blood  and  will  not  abandon 
them." 

Mr.  Miller  of  Penn.  said :  "  This  great  Republic, 
now  extending  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  and  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific 
ocean,  and  from  which  the  dark  stain  of  slavery  has 
been  eradicated,  and  the  Gospel,  education,  and  civil 
rights  extended  to  all  classes,  with  a  Constitution 
which,  according  to  the  language  of  Chief  Justice 
Marshall,  is  formed  for  ages  to  come,  and  is  design 
ed  to  approach  immortality  as  near  as  human  insti 
tutions  can  approach  it;  and  if  the  citizens  are 
true  and  loyal,  and  put  their  trust  in  Him  who  holds 
in  His  hands  the  destinies  of  nations,  this  Republic 
will  endure  as  a  shining  light  until  the  end  of  time." 

Mr.  John  L.  Thomas  of  Maryland  reminded  the 
House  that  differences  had  arisen  among  loyal  men, 
but  all  agreed  that  no  rebellious  State  shall  be  rep 
resented  on  this  floor  until  her  people  show  such 
unmistakable  proofs  of  repentance,  and  loyalty  for 
the  future,  as  will  warrant  us  in  believing  that  "  the 
Republic  can  receive  no  detriment  at  the  hands  of 
its  former  assailants." 


IN   CONGRESS.  95 

v  Mr.  Smith  of  Kentucky  had  voted  for  the  Com 
mittee  on  Reconstruction,  but  confessed  that  he  was 
sorry  for  it ;  and  Mr.  Hitter  of  Kentucky  opposed 
the  policy  of  Congress,  and  appealed  to  the  majori 
ty  to  follow  the  example  of  the  President.  Mr. 
Shellabarger  of  Ohio  followed  in  an  elaborate  and 
learned  argument,  to  establish  the  right  of  the  na 
tion  to  enact  laws  excluding  from  places  of  trust 
and  power  those  who  had  become  the  nation's  ene 
mies.  He  closed  his  able  and  eloquent  speech  by 
saying  :  "If  indeed  it  be  so  that  all  these  are  not 
enough  to  establish  as  among  the  powers  of  our 
great  and  beloved  but  most  injured  Government, 
the  merest  right  of  self-defense,  and  if  indeed  the 
chief  architects  of  that  ruin  of  States,  which  lies 
there  before  you  yet,  almost  unalleviated ;  if  the 
chief  actors  of  this  crime,  a  crime  whose  infernal 
shades  and  glares  are,  in  all  the  long  future,  to  at 
once  darken  and  show  all  that  is  bad  in  human  his 
tory;  if  all  these  chiefs  of  human  infamy,  with 
blood-drops  dripping  from  every  finger's  end,  and 
from  '  each  particular  hair ; '  if  these  men,  unrepent 
ant,  unaneled,  <no  reckoning  made,'  may  stalk  back, 
not  to  ordinary  rights  of  citizenship  merely,  but  to 
the  higher,  grander  powers  of  electors  of  this 
mighty  nation ;  nay,  may  come  here  into  the  very 
sanctuary  of  the  nation's  life,  and  to  liberty's  last 
retreat,  and  may  come,  too,  as  the  rulers  of  the  Re 
public,  and  all  this  in  defiance  of  all  power  in  the 
Government  to  forbid  it,  then,  sir,  have  the  precepts 


96  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

of  all  reason,  all  law,  all  morality,  all  history,  all 
experience,  and  all  common  justice  been  discarded 
in  the  making  of  your  Government ;  and  then  I 
turn  away  from  looking  at  my  country's  future  in 
anguish,  in  despair  of  the  Republic." 
^  On  the  28th  Mr.  Schofield  of  Penn.  addressed  the 
House  in  an  eloquent  speech  for  guarantees.  Re 
ferring  to  the  fact  that  the  President  deemed  it  un 
necessary  to  insist  upon  any  terms  additional  to 
those  imposed  by  himself,  Mr.  Schofield  said:  "It is 
in  this  opinion  that  his  old  persecutors,  the  defeat 
ed  enemies  of  the  Union,  the  foiled  plotters  of  his 
assassination,  have  taken  heart,  and  with  cruel  mal 
ice  conspired  with  northern  sympathizers  to  pursue 
him  with  their  unrelenting  friendship.  Their  last 
hope  for  the  destruction  of  this  country  lies  in  the 
seduction  of  its  friends.  "War  failed  them,  they  re 
sort  to  diplomacy.  The  President  was  not  much 
moved  by  their  threats,  will  he  be  seduced  by  their 
flattery  ?  If  so,  let  me  assure  those  of  our  friends 
who  are  disposed  to  suppress  their  own  convictions 
in  hope  to  detain  him  and  his  patronage  in  a  little 
select  court  party,  that  they  might  as  well  exercise 
a  reasonable  liberty  of  opinion.  For  if  he  ever 
determines  to  trust  his  political  future  to  anybody 
besides  the  great  earnest,  triumphant  Union  orga 
nization  that  elected  him,  he  will  have  sense  enough 
to  put  them  aside  as  mere  nobodies  in  popular 
strength,  heartless  friends  and  harmless  enemies,  as 
courtiers  always  are,  and  push  straight  for  the 


IN   CONGRESS.  97 

'  southern  brothered,'  rebel-led  opponents  of  a  per 
manent  and  peaceful  Union.  In  that  event  his  chil 
dren  and  friends  may  well  rejoice  that  the  past,  at 
least,  is  secure.  His  patriotic  thoughts  of  the  last 
five  years  will  still  live,  although  only  to  reprove 
him." 

Mr.  Harding  of  Kentucky  declared  that  "Radical 
ism  in  the  North  sowed  and  cultivated  the  seed,  and 
the  fruit  was  a  harvest  of  blood.  To  conceal  its 
horrid  visage,  radicalism  put  on  the  robe  of  philan 
thropy,  and  four  millions  of  the  black  race  are  rob 
bed  of  home  and  protection,  and  doomed  to  exter 
mination,  while  the  whole  race  of  free  wrhite  labor 
ers  throughout  the  whole  country,  are  sold  into  the 
galling  slavery  of  taxation,  cut  off  even  from  the 
hope  that  their  children  after  them  will  be  emanci 
pated.  Thus  has  the  sun-dial  of  prosperity  and 
happiness  of  this  great  country  been  set  back  half 
a  century.  And  now,  sir,  the  same  party,  under 
another  name,  and  with  the  cry  of  liberty  on  its 
tongue,  is  earnestly  striving  to  subvert  the  founda 
tions  of  republican  government,  laboring  to  cen 
tralize,  consolidate,  and  build  up  a  frightful  Federal 
despotism,  under  whose  dark  and  deadly  shadow 
self  government  and  all  State  rights  would  utterly 
sink  and  perish." 

Mr.  Finck  followed  for  the  immediate  and  uncon 
ditional  restoration  and  representation  of  the  rebel 
States. 

On  the  5th  of  May  the  House  resumed  the  con- 
7 


98  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

sideration  of  the  Message,  and  Mr.  Bundy  of  Ohio 
opened  the  debate.     Mr.  Phelps  of  Maryland  fol 
lowed.     "This  nation/'  he  said  "cannot  fully  appre 
ciate,  but  history  will  recognize  the  great  fact  of 
the  abolition  of  the  institution   of  human  slavery. 
It  is  too  sudden,  too  violent,  and  too  vast  to  be  fully 
comprehended  to-day.     Not  the  least  among  the 
many  great  evils  of  this  system  was  the  specific 
influence  it  produced  over  the  moral  sense,  dwarf 
ing  and  contracting  the  consciences  of  men  to  its 
narrow    standard,  just  as  darkness  contracts   the 
physical  eye.     Bursting  suddenly  and  with  great 
noise  and  fury  into  the  bright  air  of  freedom,  what 
wonder  that  we  should  still  see  with  dazzled  and 
bewildered  vision,  that  we  should  grope  and  clutch 
vaguely  at  the  objects  around  us,  that  we  should  be 
tormented  with  panic  fears  and  haunted  with  hide 
ous  dreams  of  the  dark  prison-house.     It  is,  there 
fore,  by  no  means  strange  to  me,  but  quite  natural, 
that    many   well-meaning    but    purblind    patriots 
should  still  afflict  themselves  and  society  with  their 
panic  dread  of  rebellion  ;  should  predict  the  revival 
or   even   affirm   the    actual   present   existence    of 
slavery ;  should  start  at  every  sound,  and  stampede 
at  every  shadow ;  should  see  walking  by  moonlight 
the  ghost  of  slavery,  and  behind  every  bush  a  '  red- 
handed  rebel;'  should  rend  the  air  with  clamors  for 
protection   against   this    imaginary    monster,  and 
make  both  day  and  night  hideous  with  their  jargon 


IN   CONGRESS.  99 

of  guarantees,  conditions,  and  constitutional  amend 
ments." 

Mr.  Ingersoll  of  Illinois  reviewed  the  policy  and 
action  of  the  President,  and  sharply  criticized  his 
conduct  of  affairs.  Mr.  Randall  of  Penn.  replied  to 
Mr.  Ingersoll,  and  Mr.  Lawrence  of  the  same  State 
avowed  that  he  could  not  after  the  veto  of  the  civil 
rights  bill,  go  for  the  President's  policy  without  de 
grading  himself  and  losing  his  self-respect.  Mr. 
Rogers  of  New  Jersey  applauded  the  policy  of  the 
President. 

On  the  19th  the  House  resumed  the  considera 
tion  of  the  President's  annual  Message,  and  Mr. 
Morris  of  New  York  addressed  the  House  in  sup 
port  of  the  policy  of  conditional  Reconstruction. 
He  closed  by  saying:  "Men  die,  principles  never. 
The  individual  who  orders  his  life  and  shapes  his 
course  for  no  purpose  other  than  to  secure  the  pop 
ular  applause  of  to-day ;  the  party  that  is  actuated 
by  no  loftier  impulses  than  expediency ;  the  Gov 
ernment  that  ignores  the  cardinal  principles  of  jus 
tice  and  truth,  must  expect  an  ignominious  grave. 
Statesmen  and  philosophers  pass  away  and  they  are 
forgotten.  But  principles  live  on.  In  the  ages 
when  inscriptions  which  chronicle  the  fame  of  the 
wisest,  no  matter  how  deeply  engraven,  shall  have 
been  entirely  effaced,  these  principles,  radiant  as 
were  they  when  the  stars  hymned  their  first  song 
of  praise,  shall  speed  on,  shall  prosecute  their  work 


100  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

until  the  will  of  the  Sovereign  of  all  shall  <be  done 
in  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven.' " 

Mr.  Patterson  of  New  Hampshire  followed  Mr. 
Morris  in  a  speech  of  marked  power  and  beauty. 
He  said :  "Posterity  will  hold  us  accountable  for  the 
improvement  of  this  splendid  opportunity  of  civil 
liberty.  It  is  the  offspring  of  the  ages,  and  has 
been  brought  to  the  birth  in  our  time,  amid  the 
shock  and  agony  of  revolution,  for  the  realization 
of  grand  and  beneficent  purposes  in  the  divine 
economy.  The  Machiavellian  dogma,  that  it  mat 
ters  not  whether  we  act  or  how  we  act  in  these  un 
settled  and  pregnant  times,  is  dangerous  teaching. 

ft******* 

With  all  deference  to  the  opinion  of  others,  I 
think  these  men  have  no  business  here  but  to  plead 
for  pardon.  The  court  which  takes  testimony  from 
the  criminal  sits  upon  a  rotten  throne.  The  Gov 
ernment  which  seeks  counsel  and  support  from  its 
enemies  is  both  weak  and  treacherous.  Sir,  it  is 
the  right  of  those  whose  political  tenets  are  univer 
sal  liberty  and  universal  justice,  and  who  have  hal 
lowed  their  creed  with  their  blood,  to  make  condi 
tions  of  return  and  to  rebuild  the  shattered  fabrics 
of  State  Governments  on  principles  which  will 
obviate  future  antagonisms  and  conflicts  in  the 
sisterhood  of  States.  I  would  pay  to  these  fallen 
chiefs  the  tribute  due  to  men  who  were  brave  in  a 
bad  cause,  and  would  give  them  the  privilege  to 
live  and  die  in  unmolested  obscurity.  'All  is  not 


IN   CONGRESS.  101 

lost/  even  to  them.  They  invoked  war  upon  the 
land,  and  in  the  bloody  carnival  the  slaves  have 
done  what  their  fathers  did,  asserted  their  inalien 
able  right  and  made  themselves  free.  The  Nemesis 
of  national  justice  has  swept  away  the  opulence 
which  they  had  wrung  from  unrequited  toil,  has 
deprived  them  of  the  power  to  dispense  an  elegant 
and  magnificent  hospitality  in  the  sweat  of  other 
men's  brows  ;  but  Providence  has  kindly  left  them 
the  consolation  of  their  hounds  and  fighting  cocks. 

#*=£**#:##: 

If  we  are  to  be  one  people,  the  deep,  dark  chasm 
which  has  opened  in  our  history,  which  puzzles  the 
skill  of  the  wisest,  must  be  spanned  by  frank  and 
manly  concessions  and  a  mutual  forbearance  until 
the  growth  of  other  times  shall  have  obliterated 
the  horrid  breach.  The  men  who  have  trodden  the 
paths  of  war,  and  whose  graves  lie  thick  and  beau 
tiful  on  southern  plains,  as  the  stars  that  keep 
watch  in  the  deep  vault  of  heaven ;  the  heroes  who 
survive  and  the  heroes  who  went  down  in  the  rage 
and  wrath  of  battle,  like  grass  in  the  swath  of  the 
mower;  they  who  at  New  Orleans  and  at  Mobile, 
with  rudder  set  and  sails  spread  to  the  breeze,  sail 
ed  as  into  the  very  mouth  of  hell,  and  brought 
forth  the  twin  demons  of  treason  and  bondage  to 
the  light  of  justice  and  liberty,  have  made  it  im 
possible  that  a  slave  should  ever  again  crouch  and 
tremble  beneath  the  flag  of  the  Eepublic.  To  us 
belongs  the  duty  of  assuring  the  safety  and  per- 


102  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

petuity  of  the  Union.  Let  us  do  our  work  in  the 
spirit  of  Christian  charity,  and  in  our  admiration 
of  men  of  noble  natures  and  heroic  mold,  who 
dared  to  stand  like  heroes  at  the  threshold  of  their 
homes,  and  to  fall  like  men  at  their  hearth-stones, 
in  defense  of  a  bad  and  wicked  cause,  let  us  forget 
our  wrongs  and  foster  a  spirit  of  patriotism  and  of 
brotherhood,  which  shall  embrace  every  State  and 
every  citizen  in  our  broad  and  sea-girt  domain,  rich 
in  its  mountains  and  rich  in  its  plains,  blessed  in  its 
climates  and  blessed  in  its  peoples." 

Mr.  Ross  of  Illinois  denounced  the  sophistical 
theory  of  a  dissevered  Union  as  false  and  fallacious, 
defended  the  action  of  the  President  and  warned 
the  Republicans  of  impending  disaster. 

On  the  9th  of  June  Mr.  Van  Aernam  of  New 
York,  and  Mr.  Eckley  of  Ohio,  spoke  for  the  policy 
of  security  for  the  future. 

Mr.  Julian,  on  the  16th,  made  an  elaborate  speech 
in  favor  of  the  radical  policy  of  Reconstruction. 
Of  Radicalism  and  Conservatism  Mr.  Julian  said : 
"  Radicalism  did  not  believe  in  conciliation  and  com 
promise.  It  did  not  believe  that  a  powerful  and 
steadily  advancing  evil  was  to  be  mastered  by  sub 
mission  to  its  behests,  but  by  timely  and  resolute 
resistance.  The  Radicals,  under  whatever  peculiar 
banner  they  rallied,  thought  it  was  their  duty  to 
take  time  by  the  forelock ;  and  with  prophetic  ears 
they  heard  the  footfalls  of  civil  war  in  the  distance, 
forewarned  the  country  of  its  danger,  and  pointed 


IN   CONGRESS,  103 

out  the  way  of  deliverance.  In  the  ages  to  come 
Freedom  will  remember  and  cherish  them  as  her 
most  precious  jewels ;  for  had  they  been  seconded 
in  their  earnest  efforts  to  rouse  the  people  and  to 
lay  hold  of  the  aggressions  of  slavery  in  their  in 
cipient  stages,  the  black  tide  of  southern  domina 
tion  wrhich  has  since  inundated  the  land  might  have 
been  rolled  back,  and  the  Republic  saved  without 
the  frightful  surgery  of  war.  This  exalted  tribute 
to  their  sagacity  and  their  fidelity  to  their  country 
wTill  be  the  sure  award  of  history;  and  its  lesson, 
like  that  of  Conservatism,  commends  itself  to  our 
study. 

But  the  war  at  length  came,  and  with  it  came 
the  same  conflict  between  Conservatism  on  the  one 
hand  and  Radicalism  on  the  other.  Their  antago 
nisms  put  on  new  shapes,  but  were  as  perfectly  de 
fined  as  before.  The  proof  of  this  is  supplied  by 
facts  so  well  known,  and  so  painfully  remembered 
by  all  loyal  men,  that  I  need  scarcely  refer  to  them. 
Conservatism,  in  its  unexampled  stupidity,  denied 
that  rebels  in  arms  against  the  Government  were 
its  enemies,  and  declared  them  to  be  only  misguid 
ed  friends.  The  counsel  it  perpetually  volunteered 
was  that  of  great  moderation  and  forbearance  on 
our  part  in  the  conduct  of  the  war.  It  denied  that 
slavery  caused  the  war,  or  should  in  any  way  be 
affected  by  it.  It  insisted  that  slavery  and  free 
dom  were  'twin  sisters  of  the  Constitution,'  equally 
sacred  in  its  sight,  and  equally  to  be  guarded  and 


104  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

defended  at  all  hazards.  Its  owlish  vision  failed  to 
see  that  two  civilizations  had  met  in  the  shock  of 
deadly  conflict,  and  that  slavery  at  last  must  perish. 
Even  down  to  the  very  close  of  the  contest,  when 
the  dullest  minds  could  see  the  new  heavens  and 
the  new  earth  which  the  rebellion  had  ushered  in, 
Conservatism  madly  insisted  on  'the  Constitution 
as  it  is  and  the  Union  as  it  was.'  Its  idolized  party 
leaders  and  its  great  military  heroes  were  all  men 
who  believed  in  the  divinity  of  slavery,  whose 
hearts  were  therefore  on  the  side  of  the  rebellion, 
and  whose  management  of  the  war  gave  proof  of 
it.  And  every  man  of  ordinary  sense  and  intelli 
gence  knows  that  just  so  long  and  so  far  as  Con 
servative  counsels  prevailed,  defeat  and  disaster  fol 
lowed  in  our  steps,  and  that  if  these  counsels  had 
not  been  abjured,  the  black  flag  of  treason  would 
have  been  unfurled  over  the  broken  columns  and 
shattered  fragments  of  our  republican  edifice." 

Messrs.  Kerr  of  Indiana,  Cullom  of  Illinois, 
Trimble  of  Kentucky,  and  Sitgreaves  of  New  Jer- 
sey  closed  the  debate. 


CHAPTER  III. 

TO  PROTECT  PERSONAL  FREEDOM. 

Mr.  Wilson's  bill.— Mr.  Cowan's  motion.— Mr.  Wilson's  speech.— Speech  of 
Mr.  Johnson. — Speech  of  Mr.  Cowan. — Speech  of  Mr.  Wilson. — Re 
marks  of  Mr.  Sherman,  of  Mr.  Saulsbury,  of  Mr.  Trumbull. — Speech  of 
Mr.  Sumner. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Saulsbury. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Cowan. — 
Speech  of  Mr.  Stewart. — Speech  of  Mr.  Wilson. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Stew 
art. — Speech  of  Mr.  Wilson.— Speech  of  Mr.  Saulsbury. 

IN  the  Senate,  on  the  1st  day  of  the  session,  Mr. 
Wilson  of  Massachusetts  introduced  a  bill  to  main 
tain  the  freedom  of  the  inhabitants  in  the  States 
declared  in  insurrection  and  rebellion,  by  the  proc 
lamation  of  the  President  of  the  1st  of  July  1862. 
It  provided  "  That  all  laws,  statutes,  acts,  ordinances, 
rules  and  regulations,  of  any  description  whatso 
ever,  heretofore  in  force  or  held  valid  in  any  of  the 
States  which  were  declared  to  be  in  insurrection 
and  rebellion  by  the  proclamation  of  the  President 
of  the  first  of  July,  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty- 
two,  whereby  or  wherein  any  inequality  of  civil 
rights  and  immunities  among  the  inhabitants  of  said 
States  is  recognized,  authorized,  established,  or 
maintained,  by  reason  or  in  consequence  of  any 
distinctions  or  differences  of  color,  race,  or  descent, 
or  by  reason  or  in  consequence  of  a  previous  con 
dition  or  status  of  slavery  or  involuntary  servitude 
of  such  inhabitants,  be,  and  are  hereby,  declared 
null  and  void,  and  it  shall  be  unlawful  to  institute, 

105 


106  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

make,  ordain,  or  establish,  in  any  of  the  aforesaid 
States  declared  to  be  in  insurrection  and  rebellion, 
any  such  law,  statute,  act,  ordinance,  rule  or  regu 
lation,  or  to  enforce  or  to  attempt  to  enforce  the 


same." 


On  the  13th,  the  bill,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Wilson, 
was  taken  up  and  Mr.  Cowan  of  Penn.  moved  its 
reference  to  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary,  as  he 
was  opposed  to  its  consideration  at  that  time.  Mr. 
Wilson  desired  immediate  action.  The  bill  he  said 
was  based  upon  the  proclamation,  declaring  certain 
States  in  insurrection  and  rebellion,  and  the  proc 
lamation  of  emancipation  which  pledged  the  faith 
of  the  Government  to  maintain  the  freedom  of  the 
three  and  a  half  millions  of  persons  declared  free 
by  that  proclamation.  He  referred  to  the  black 
codes  of  the  rebel  States,  to  the  pending  legislation 
in  some  of  those  States,  and  to  the  outrages  per 
petrated  upon  the  freedmen,  and  called  upon  Con 
gress  as  a  matter  of  humanity,  to  protect  those  peo 
ple  by  passing  the  bill  and  annulling  those  laws. 
"Let  us,"  he  said,  "pass  it  at  once,  as  an  act  of  hu 
manity  and  justice,  and  then  we  can  calmly  pro 
ceed  to  re-organize,  re-construct,  and  bring  into  the 
Union  these  States ;  but  while  these  cruelties  and 
WTongs  are  being  perpetrated,  I  feel  that  Congress 
and  all  the  branches  of  Government  are  incurring 
the  indignation  of  men  and  the  judgments  of  Al 
mighty  God.  *  *  *  I  offer  this  bill  as  a  meas 
ure  imperatively  demanded  at  our  hands.  I  believe 


IN   CONGRESS.  107 

if  it  should  pass,  it  will  receive  the  sanction  of 
nineteen-twentieths  of  the  loyal  people  of  the  coun 
try.  Men  may  differ  about  the  power  or  expedi 
ency  of  giving  them  the  right  of  suffrage ;  but  I 
cannot  comprehend  how  any  humane,  just,  and 
Christian  man  can  for  a  moment  permit  the  laws 
that  are  on  the  statute-books  of  the  States  in  re 
bellion,  and  the  laws  that  are  now  pending  before 
their  Legislatures,  to  be  executed  upon  men  whom 
we  have  declared  to  be  free. 

Mr.  Johnson  of  Maryland  advocated  its  reference 
to  the  Judiciary  Committee.  He  was  sure  that  no 
member  of  the  Senate  desired  any  injustice  to  be 
perpetrated  which  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
could  prevent,  but  he  did  not  know  that  there  was 
any  more  pressing  need  for  extraordinary  legisla 
tion  to  prevent  outrages/ upon  the  black  race  in  the 
Southern  States  than  to  prevent  outrage  in  the 
loyal  States.  "  Crimes,"  he  said,  "  are  being  perpe 
trated  every  day  in  the  very  justly  esteemed  State 
from  which  the  honorable  member  comes.  Hardly 
a  paper  fails  to  give  us  an  account  of  some  most 
atrocious  and  horrible  crime.  Murders  shock  the 
sense  of  that  community  and  the  sense  of  the  Uni 
ted  States  very  often ;  and  it  is  not  peculiar  to  Mas 
sachusetts.  Moral  by  her  education,  and  loving 
freedom  and  hating  injustice  as  much  as  the  people 
of  any  other  State,  she  yet  is  unable  to  prevent  a 
violation  of  eve.ry  principle  of  human  rights,  but 
We  are  not  for  that  reason  to  legislate  for  her." 


108  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

Mr.  Cowan  said  he  had  not  moved  the  reference 
because  he  did  not  sympathize  with  the  design  or 
desire  the  attainment  of  the  end  contemplated.  He 
favored  opening  the  courts  of  the  country  to  every 
body,  Jews,  Gypsies,  Chinese,  and  Negroes,  all  men 
of  every  color  and  condition,  but  he  doubted  if  it 
could  be  done  by  legislation.  By  an  amendment 
to  the  Constitution  it  could  be  done,  and  he  was  in 
favor  of  that  measure. 

Mr.  Wilson  wrould  neither  cast  imputations  upon 
the  people  of  the  rebel  States,  nor  indulge  in  harsh 
criticism  upon  them.  "I  have  never  entertained," 
he  said,  "a  feeling  of  bitterness  or  of  unkindness 
to  the  southern  people ;  notwithstanding  all  that 
has  taken  place,  I  have  always  regarded  those  peo 
ple  as  my  countrymen  deluded  and  wrong,  but  still 
my  countrymen.  Nor  do  I  wish  to  impose  upon 
them  anything  that  would  be  degrading  or  unman 
ly  •  but  I  wish  to  protect  all  the  people  there,  of 
every  race,  the  poorest  and  the  humblest;  and 
while  I  would  not  degrade  any  of  them  neither 
would  I  allow  them  to  degrade  others.  *  *  *  * 
To  turn  these  freedmen  over  to  the  tender  mercies 
of  men  who  hate  them  for  their  fidelity  to  the 
country,  is  a  crime  that  will  bring  the  judgment  of 
Heaven  upon  us. 

The  evidence  is  before  us ;  we  cannot  shut  our 
eyes  to  facts.  The  condition  of  the  freedmen  is 
worse  to-day  than  on  the  day  General  Lee  surren 
dered  to  General  Grant.  Their  spirits  are  less  buoy- 


IN    CONGRESS.  109 

ant ;  they  are  less  hopeful,  less  confident  of  their 
future  ;  and  we  ought  in  Congress  to  say  that  these 
laws  shall  never  more  be  enforced,  and  that  these 
States  shall  not  have  power  to  pass  laws  to  oppress 
men  whom  we  have  declared  free,  and  to  whom  we 
have  given  the  plighted  faith  of  the  Republic." 
<  Mr.  Sherman  of  Ohio  sympathized  heartily  with 
the  purpose  of  the  bill,  for  he  believed  it  to  be  the 
duty  of  Congress  to  give  ample  protection  to  the 
freedmen  in  all  their  natural  rights.  It  was  simply 
a  question  of  time  and  manner.  He  believed  it 
would  be  wiser  to  postpone  all  action  upon  the  sub 
ject  until  the  proclamation  of  the  Secretary  of  State 
should  announce  that  the  Constitutional  Amendment 
was  a  part  of  the  Supreme  law  of  the  land.  Then 
there  would  be  no  doubt  of  the  power  of  Congress 
to  pass  the  bill  and  make  it  general  in  its  appli 
cation. 

Mr.  Saulsbury  of  Delaware  wished  the  country 
to  note  the  extraordinary  and  alarming  doctrines 
avowed  in  the  debate.  He  denied  that  the  adop 
tion  of  the  Constitutional  Amendment  gave  Con 
gress  "power  to  enter  the  States  and  legislate  for 
the  people  of  the  States."  Mr.  Trumbull  of  Illinois 
did  not  intend  to  discuss  the  bill ;  it  was  one  of  too 
much  importance  to  be  passed  without  reference  to 
a  committee.  "  I  trust,"  he  said,  "  this  bill  may  be  re 
ferred,  because  I  think  that  a  bill  of  this  character 
should  not  pass  without  deliberate  consideration 
and  without  going  to  some  of  the  committees  of  the 


110  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

Senate.  But  the  object  which  is  had  in  view  by 
this  bill  I  heartily  sympathize  with,  and  when  the 
constitutional  amendment  is  adopted  I  trust  we  may 
pass  a  bill,  if  the  action  of  the  people  in  the  south 
ern  States  should  make  it  necessary,  that  will  be 
much  more  sweeping  and  efficient  than  the  bill  un 
der  consideration.  I  will  not  sit  down,  however, 
without  expressing  the  hope  that  no  such  legisla 
tion  may  be  necessary.  I  trust  that  the  people  of 
the  South,  who  in  their  State  constitutions  have  de 
clared  that  slavery  shall  no  more  exist  among  them, 
will  by  their  own  legislation  make  that  provision 
effective.  I  trust  there  may  be  a  feeling  among 
them  in  harmony  with  the  feeling  throughout  the 
country,  and  which  shall  not  only  abolish  slavery  in 
name,  but  in  fact,  and  that  the  legislation  of  the 
slave  States  in  after  years  may  be  as  effective  to 
elevate,  enlighten,  and  improve  the  African,  as  it 
has  been  in  past  years  to  enslave  and  degrade  him." 
The  Senate  on  the  20th  resumed  the  considera 
tion  of  the  bill,  and  Mr.  Simmer  of  Massachusetts, 
in  advocating  its  passage,  spoke  of  the  condition  of 
the  rebel  States,  and  the  sickening  and  heartrend 
ing  outrages  perpetrated  upon  the  freedmen.  "All 
must  admit,"  he  said,  "that  the  bill  of  my  colleague 
is  excellent  in  purpose.  It  proposes  nothing  less 
than  to  establish  Equality  before  the  Law,  at  least 
so  far  as  civil  rights  are  concerned,  in  the  rebel 
States.  This  is  done  simply  to  carry  out  and  main 
tain  the  Proclamation  of  Emancipation,  by  which 


IN   CONGRESS.  Ill 

tills  Republic  is  solemnly  pledged  to  maintain  the 
emancipated  slave  in  his  freedom.  Such  is  ourf 
pledge  :  'and  the  Executive  Government  of  the! 
United  States,  including  the  military  and  naval' 
authority  thereof,  will  recognize  and  maintain  the ' 
freedom  of  such  persons'  This  pledge  is  without 
any  limitation  in  space  or  time.  It  is  as  extended 
and  as  immortal  as  the  Republic  itself.  Does  any 
body  call  it  vain  words?  I  trust  not.  To  that 
pledge  we  are  solemnly  bound.  Wherever  our  flag 
floats,  as  long  as  time  endures  we  must  see  that  it 
is  sacredly  observed." 

After  tracing  the  saddening  condition  of  affairs 
in  the  rebel  States,  he  closed  by  saying  :  "I  bring 
this  plain  story  to  a  close.  I  regret  that  I  have 
been  constrained  to  present  it.  I  wish  it  were 
otherwise.  But  I  should  have  failed  in  duty  had  I 
failed  to  speak.  Not  in  anger,  not  in  vengeance, 
not  in  harshness  have  I  spoken ;  but  solemnly,  care 
fully,  and  for  the  sake  of  my  country  and  human 
ity,  that  peace  and  reconciliation  may  again  pre 
vail.  I  have  spoken  especially  for  the  loyal  citi 
zens  who  are  now  trodden  down  by  rebel  power. 
You  have  before  you  the  actual  condition  of  the 
rebel  States.  You  have  heard  the  terrible  testimo 
ny.  The  blood  curdles  at  the  thought  of  such 
enormities,  and  especially  at  the  thought  that  the 
poor  freedmen  to  whom  we  owe  protection,  are  left 
to  the  unrestrained  will  of  such  a  people,  smarting 
with  defeat  and  ready  to  wreak  vengeance  upon 


112  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

these  representatives  of  a  true  loyalty.  In  the 
name  of  God  let  us  protect  them.  Insist  upon 
guarantees.  Pass  the  bill  now  under  consideration; 
pass  any  bill  •  but  do  not  let  this  crying  injustice 
rage  any  longer.  An  avenging  God  cannot  sleep 
while  such  things  find  countenance.  If  you  are 
not  ready  to  be  the  Moses  of  an  oppressed  people, 
do  not  become  its  Pharaoh." 

Mr.  Saulsbury  thought  there  was  apprehension 
in  some  quarters,  lest  the  Democratic  party  should 
come  into  power  through  the  agency  of  the  Presi 
dent.  It  could  not  be  disguised  that  in  the  party 
which  elected  the  President  there  was  an  opposition 
party  to  him.  If  his  voice  could  reach  the  Presi 
dent  he  would  say  that  there  were  two  millions  of 
men  who  had  never  been  in  revolt,  who  would  wel 
come  the  conflict  when  the  battle  comes  if  he  would 
"stand  firm  to  the  constitutional  principles  he  had 
avowed."  Mr.  Cowan  thought  if  the  statements  of 
Mr.  Simmer  were  true,  the  Republic  was  at  an  end, 
the  war  was  a  folly  and  all  the  blood  and  treasure 
expended  in  it  had  been  wasted.  He  questioned 
the  truth  of  these  allegations,  and  trusted  "this 
angry,  irritating  and  exciting  mode  of  treating  the 
subject,  which  is  calculated  to  make  us  anything 
else  but  friends,  will  be  discarded  hereafter." 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Stewart  of  Nevada  the  Senate 
on  the  21st  resumed  the  consideration  of  the  bill. 
Sentiments  had  been  announced  which  he  could  not 
endorse,  and  a  sense  of  duty  compelled  him  to  speak 


IN   CONGRESS  113 

upon  the  great  questions  involved  in  the  debate. 
In  reply  to  Mr.  Sumner  he  said  :  "If  that  Senator 
is  right,  and  the  evidence  adduced  by  him  estab 
lishes  that  the  great  mass  of  the  people  of  the 
South  are  capable  of  the  atrocities  imputed  to  them 
by  anonymous  witnesses  paraded  before  this  Senate, 
then  a  Union  of  these  States  is  impossible,  then 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  the  bravest  and  best  of 
our  land  have  fallen  to  no  purpose,  then  every 
house  from  the  Gulf  to  the  Lakes  is  draped  in 
mourning  without  an  object,  then  three  thousand 
millions  of  indebtedness  hang  like  a  pall  upon  the 
pride  and  prosperity  of  the  people,  only  to  admon 
ish  us  that  the  war  was  wicked,  useless  and  cruel. 

But  we  are  told  that  although  we  cannot  have 
union,  although  we  cannot  extend  the  blessings  of 
the  Constitution  to  seven  millions  of  our  fellow- 
citizens  who  reside  in  the  late  rebel  States,  yet  we 
have  conquest  and  territorial  dominion  which  we 
should  perpetuate  regardless  of  ourselves  and  our 

posterity. 

##*####* 

Have  conquest  and  dominion  been  the  mottoes 
under  which  millions  of  the  loyal  men  of  the  United 
States  have  rallied  round  the  flag  of  their  country  ? 
On  the  contrary,  have  not  union,  freedom,  and 
equality  before  the  law  been  the  words  of  inspira 
tion  to  the  soldier,  who  poured  out  his  blood  as 
water,  and  to  the  nation,  which  expended  its  treas 
ure  as  dross  ?  Now  that  these  sacrifices  have  been 
8 


114  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

made  and  the  victory  won,  are  we  not  bound  by 
every  obligation  which  reverence  for  the  dead,  re 
gard  for  the  living,  and  fear  of  God  can  inspire,  to 
preserve,  not  destroy,  the  Constitution  and  Union 
of  these  States?" 

Mr.  Stewart  declared  that  he  was  not  surprised 
at  the  statements  read  to  the  Senate ;  he  expected 
in  the  disorganized  state  of  society  in  the  South 
that  crimes  would  be  committed. 

Mr.  Wilson  said  he  had  introduced  the  bill  "to 
meet  a  pressing  need — it  was  introduced  in  the  in 
terests  of  humanity  and  justice.  I  have  examined 
many  and  many  pages  of  official  records,  records 
connected  with  the  Freedmen's  Bureau,  records  of 
military  officers,  and  letters  written  by  some  of  the 
foremost  officers  of  our  army,  men  who  have  made 
their  names  immortal  in  the  history  of  the  country. 
The  evidence  conclusively  shows  that  great  atroci 
ties  and  cruelties  are  perpetrated  upon  the  freed- 
men  in  various  sections  of  the  country ;  that  the 
poor,  dumb,  toiling  millions  who  look  to  us  for  pro 
tection  are  inhumanly  outraged. 

The  Senator  who  has  just  addressed  us  questions 
the  testimony  adduced  here  by  my  colleague  yes 
terday.  He  might  as  well  question  the  massacre  at 
Fort  Pillow,  and  the  cruelties  practiced  at  Ander- 
sonville,  where  eighty-three  per  cent,  of  the  men 
who  entered  the  hospitals  died  ;  Andersonville, 
where  more  American  soldiers  lie  buried  than  fell 
throughout  the  Mexican  war  •  where  more  Ameri- 


IN   CONGRESS.  115 

can  soldiers  now  lie,  than  were  killed  of  British 
soldiers  in  Wellington's  four  great  battles  in  Spain, 
and  at  Waterloo,  at  Alma,  Inkerman,  and  Sebas- 
topol." 

*  Mr.  Stewart  wished  it  distinctly  understood  that 
he  was  not  opposing  the  passage  of  the  bill.  He 
was  in  favor  of  legislation  that  would  secure  the 
equality  of  the  freedmen  before  the  law,  but  he- 
thought  this  could  be  done  without  holding  the 
Southern  States  in  territorial  subjugation. 

Mr.  Wilson  considered  time  wasted,  which  was 
consumed  in  disputing  whether  those  States  were 
in,  or  out  of  the  Union.  "I  believe,"  he  said,  "our 
power  is  full,  ample  and  complete,  to  bring  back 
those  States,  to  restore  them,  and  to  preserve  also, 
the  rights  and  liberties  there,  of  all  who  breathe 
God's  air.  I  would  not  degrade  a  single  man  in  the 
rebel  States.  I  would  not  have  them  degrade 
others,  and  I  do  not  mean  that  they  shall  do  it. 
^^%**^*^ 

We  must  see  to  it  that  the  man  made  free  by  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  sanctioned  by 
the  voice  of  the  American  people,  is  a  freeman  in 
deed  ;  that  he  can  go  where  he  pleases,  work  when 
and  for  whom  he  pleases  ;  that  he  can  sue  and  be 
sued ;  that  he  can  lease  and  buy  and  sell  and  own 
property,  real  and  personal ;  that  he  can  go  into 
the  schools  and  educate  himself  and  his  children ; 
that  the  rights  and  guarantees  of  the  good  old  com 
mon  law  are  his,  and  that  he  walks  the  earth,  proud 


116  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

and  erect  in  the  conscious  dignity  of  a  free  man, 
who  knows  that  his  cabin,  however  humble,  is  pro 
tected  by  the  just  and  equal  laws  of  his  country." 

Mr.  Wilson  said  he  had  read  hundreds  of  pages 
of  records  and  testimony  that  would  make  the 
heart  sick,  and  he  had  proposed  this  bill  for  annull 
ing  those  cruel  laws,  so  that  Congress  could  calmly 
proceed  with  the  proper  legislation.  It  was  now 
apparent  that  the  bill  was  not  to  pass  at  present. 
The  constitutional  amendment  had  been  adopted, 
and  he  had  that  day  introduced  a  bill  based  upon 
it,  which  had  been  referred  to  the  Committee  on 
the  Judiciary,  and  they  would  probably  enter  on 
the  discussion  of  the  broader  question  of  annulling 
all  the  black  laws,  and  putting  those  people  under 
the  protection  of  just,  and  equal,  and  humane  laws. 

Mr.  Saulsbury  denied  that  there  was  anything  in 
the  Constitutional  Amendment  giving  Congress 
power  to  enter  a  State  and  regulate  the  relations 
existing  between  the  different  classes  and  condi 
tions  in  life.  He  did  not  doubt  that  would  be  the 
decision  "  when  the  passions  of  the  maddened  hour 
shall  die  away,  and  reason  shall  resume  its  throne, 
and  the  clear-headed  jurists  of  the  land  shall  sit  in 
judgment  upon  such  a  question."  The  bill  went 
over  to  the  next  day  and  was  not  called  up  again. 


CHAPTER  IY. 

CIVIL  RIGHTS. 

Mr.  Sumner's  bill.— Mr.  Wilson's  bill.— Mr.  Trumbull's  bill.— Mr.  TrumbulTs 
speech. — Mr.  McDougall. — Mr.  Trumbull's  amendment  modified. — Mr. 
Johnson's  speech. — Mr.  Lane's  motion  to  amend  Mr.  Trumbull's  amend 
ment.— Speech  of  Mr.  Morrill. — Mr.  Guthrie. — Mr.  Lane. — Mr.  Wilson. — 
Mr.  Cowan. — Mr.  McDougall. — Mr.  Trumbull's  reply  to  Mr.  Hendricks 
and  Mr.  Cowan. — Passage  of  the  bill. — The  bill  considered  in  the  House. — 
Mr.  Wilson's  speech. — Mr.  Raymond. — Mr.  Dumont's  motion  to  amend. — 
Mr.  Washburu's  motion  to  amend. — Mr.  Bingham's  motion  to  amend. — 
Mr.  Shellabarger's  speech. — Mr.  Wilson's  speech. — Closing  debate. — Pas 
sage  of  the  bill. — Concurrence  of  the  Senate. — The  President's  veto. — 
Passage  of  the  bill  in  Senate  and  House  over  the  veto... 

IN  the  Senate,  on  the  first  day  of  the  session, 
Mr.  Sumner  introduced  a  bill  supplying  appropriate 
legislation  to  enforce  the  amendment  to  the  Con 
stitution.  It  provided  that  all  laws  or  customs 
establishing  any  oligarchical  privileges,  and  any 
distinction  of  rights  on  account  of  color  or  race, 
should  be  annulled,  all  persons  in  such  States  re 
cognized  as  equal  before  the  law,  and  that  the 
Courts  of  the  United  States  should  have  exclusive 
jurisdiction  of  all  offences  committed  by  persons 
not  of  African  descent  upon  persons  of  African  de 
scent.  The  bill  was  referred  to  the  Judiciary  Com 
mittee,  and  on  the  31st  of  January  Mr.  Trumbull 
reported  it  back  with  a  recommendation  that  it  be 
indefinitely  postponed. 


118  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

On  the  19th  of  December,  1865,  the  Secretary 
of  State  made  proclamation  that  three-fourths  of 
the  States  had  ratified  the  Constitutional  amend 
ment  abolishing  slavery.  On  the  21st  Mr.  Wilson 
introduced  a  bill  to  maintain  and  enforce  the  free 
dom  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  United  States.  It 
provided  that  all  laws,  statutes,  acts,  ordinances, 
rules  and  regulations  heretofore  in  force,  or  held 
valid,  whereby  or  wherein  any  inequality  of  civil 
rights  and  immunities  among  the  inhabitants  was 
recognized,  authorized,  established  or  maintained, 
by  reason  of,  or  founded  upon  distinctions  or  differ 
ences  of  color,  race,  or  descent,  or  upon  a  previous 
condition  or  status  of  slavery,  should  be  declared 
null  and  void,  and  that  it  should  be  unlawful  to 
make,  institute,  ordain  or  establish  any  such  law, 
statute,  act,  ordinance,  rule  or  regulation,  or  to  en 
force  or  to  attempt  to  enforce  the  same.  The  bill 
was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary, 
and  on  the  31st  of  January  Mr.  Trumbull  reported 
it  with  a  recommendation  that  it  should  be  post 
poned  indefinitely. 

x  On  the  5th  of  January,  1866,  Mr.  Trumbull  of 
Illinois  introduced  a  bill  to  protect  all  persons  in 
their  civil  rights,  and  to  furnish  the  means  for  their 
vindication,  which  was  referred  to  the  Committee 
on  the  Judiciary.  On  the  llth  Mr.  Trumbull  re 
ported  it  with  amendments,  and  on  the  12th  the 
Senate  proceeded  to  its  consideration.  It  provided 
that  there  should  be  no  discrimination  in  civil  rights 


IN    CONGRESS.  119 

on  account  of  color,  race,  or  previous  condition  of 
slavery ;  but  the  inhabitants,  of  every  race  and 
color,  should  have  the  same  right  to  make  and  en 
force  contracts,  to  sue,  be  parties  and  give  evidence, 
to  inherit,  purchase,  lease,  sell,  hold,  and  convey 
real  and  personal  property,  and  to  full  and  equal 
benefit  of  all  laws  and  proceedings  for  the  security 
of  person  and  property,  and  should  be  subject  to  like 
punishment,  pains  and  penalties,  and  to  none  other, 
any  law,  statute,  ordinance,  regulation  or  custom, 
to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 
»  On  the  29th  the  Senate  proceeded  to  its  con 
sideration,  and  Mr.  Trumbull  moved  to  so  amend 
the  first  section  as  to  declare  that  all  persons  of 
African  descent  born  in  the  United  States  should* 
be  citizens  of  the  United  States.  In  support  of  the 
bill,  Mr.  Trumbull  declared  that  it  was  the  most 
important  measure  since  the  adoption  of  the  Con 
stitutional  Amendment  abolishing  slavery ;  that  the 
measure  was  intended  to  give  effect  to  that  declara 
tion  and  to  "secure  to  all  persons  in  the  United 
States  practical  freedom."  The  bill  was  intended 
to  secure  civil  rights,  and  "  with  this  bill  passed  into 
a  law  and  efficiently  executed,  we  shall  have  se 
cured  freedom  in  fact  and  equality  in  civil  rights 
to  all  persons  in  the  United  States."  Mr.  McDougall 
of  California  desired  an  interpretation  of  the  term 
"civil  rights."  "The  first  section  of  the  bill,"  re 
plied  Mr.  Trumbull,  "defines  what  I  understand  to 
be  civil  rights :  the  right  to  make  and  enforce  con- 


120  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

jtracts,  to  sue  and  be  sued,  and  to  give  evidence,  to 
/inherit,  purchase,  sell,  lease,  hold  and  convey  real 
i  and  personal  property,  and  to  full  and  equal  bene- 
>fit  to  all  laws  and  proceedings  for  the  security  of 
*  person  and  property.  These  I  understand  to  be 
civil  rights,  fundamental  rights  belonging  to  every 
man  as  a  free  man,  and  which  under  the  Constitu 
tion  as  it  now  exists,  we  have  a  right  to  protect 
every  man  in."  Mr.  McDougall  thought  all  those 
rights  should  be  conceded.  "Do  I  understand,"  he 
said,  "that  this  bill  does  not  go  further  than  to  give 
protection  to  the  enjoyment  of  life  and  liberty  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness  and  the  protection  of  the 
courts,  and  to  have  justice  administered  to  all  ?  Do 
I  understand  that  it  is  not  designed  to  involve  the 
question  of  political  rights?"  Mr.  Trumbull  re 
plied  that  the  bill  had  nothing  to  do  with  political 
rights  of  parties, — it  was  confined  exclusively  to 
their  civil  rights.  Mr.  Saulsbury  of  Delaware  re 
garded  the  bill  as  one  of  the  most  dangerous  ever 
introduced  into  the  Senate,  or  to  which  the  atten 
tion  of  the  American  people  was  ever  invited. 

On  the  30th  the  consideration  of  the  bill  was  re 
sumed,  and  Mr.  Van  Winkle  of  West  Virginia  de 
clared  that  he  had  believed  and  had  avowed  the 
belief  that  persons  in  this  country  of  African  de 
scent  were  not  citizens  of  the  United  States ; — "it 
needed  a  constitutional  amendment  to  make  them 
citizens  of  the  United  States."  Mr.  Trumbull  modi 
fied  his  amendment  to  the  first  section  so  as  to  make 


IN   CONGRESS.  121 

it  read,  "All  persons  born  in  the  United  States,  and 
not  subject  to  any  foreign  power,  are  hereby  de 
clared  to  be  citizens  of  the  United  States,  without*' 
distinction  of  color."  Mr.  Cowan  earnestly  opposed 
the  amendment  and  the  entire  measure  in  principle 
and  in  policy.  "It  could  not,"  he  said,  "be  disguised 
that  there  was  a  growing  apprehension  that  some 
thing  was  not  right.  That  apprehension  had  not 
yet  risen  to  alarm,  but  unless  Congress  should  do 
something  to  reassure  the  country  it  would  come 
to  that  condition."  Mr.  Howard  of  Michigan  agreed 
with  Mr.  Cowan  that  there  was  a  growing  appre 
hension  that  something  was  wrong,  but  the  people 
actually  possessed  a  knowledge  of  it.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Judiciary  Committee  when  the  con 
stitutional  amendment  was  drafted,  and  he  recol 
lected  very  distinctly  what  were  the  views  of  mem 
bers  of  the  committee;  "and  notwithstanding  the 
very  vehement  style  of  the  Senator  from  Pennsyl 
vania,  in  placing  a  narrow  and  utterly  ineffectual 
construction  upon  it,  I  take  this  occasion  to  say 
that  it  was  in  the  contemplation  of  its  friends  and 
advocates  to  give  to  Congress  precisely  the  power 
over  the  subject  of  slavery  and  the  freedmen,  which 
is  proposed  to  be  exercised  by  the  bill  now  under 
our  consideration."  He  believed  the  bill  did  not 
invade  the  legitimate  rights  of  the  States.  "It 
contemplates,"  he  declared,  "nothing  of  the  kind; 
but  it  simply  gives  to  persons  who  are  of  different 
races  or  colors,  the  same  civil  rights.  That  is  its 


122  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

full  extent ;  it  goes  no  further ;  and  I  sincerely 
trust  that  this  nation,  having  by  an  expenditure  of 
blood  and  treasure  unexampled  in  the  history  of 
the  human  race,  having  by  their  chief  Executive 
declared  the  slaves  in  the  United  States  forever 
emancipated  and  free,  and  in  doing  this  great  act 
appealed  to  the  favor  and  approval  of  a  just  God  ; 
having  employed  this  class  of  persons  to  the  num 
ber  of  nearly  two  hundred  thousand  in  the  prose 
cution  of  our  just  and  righteous  war,  will  not  now 
be  found  so  recreant  to  duty,  so  wanting  in  simple 
justice,  as  to  turn  our  backs  upon  the  race,  and  say 
to  them,  'We  set  you  free,  but  beyond  this  we  give 
you  no  protection ;  we  allow  you  again  to  be  re 
duced  to  slavery  by  your  old  masters,  because  it  is 
the  right  of  the  State  which  has  enslaved  you  for 
two  hundred  years  thus  to  do.'  Sir,  let  me  tell 
you  and  the  Senators  who  have  advocated  the  op 
posite  side  of  this  question,  that  if  we  fail  in  this 
high  duty,  if  we  fail  to  redeem  this  solemn  pledge 
which  we  have  given  to  the  slave,  to  the  world,  and 
in  the  presence  of  Almighty  God,  the  time  is  not 
far  distant  when  we  shall  reap  the  fruits  of  our 
treachery  and  imbecility  in  woes  which  we  have  not 
yet  witnessed,  in  terrors  of  which  even  the  civil 
war  that  has  just  passed  has  furnished  no  ex 
ample." 

Mr.  Johnson  of  Maryland  expressed  the  opinion 
that  the  object  contemplated  by  the  bill,  could  "only 
be  safely  and  surely  attained  by  an  amendment  to 


IN   CONGRESS.  123 

the  Constitution."  He  declared  himself  anxious 
that  the  colored  race  should  be  protected  in  their 
proper  rights,  but  feared  such  legislation  if  adopted 
would  be  open  to  controversy.  He  said,  "my  opin 
ion  is  that  the  emancipated  slaves  become  citizens, 
and  I  hold  that  opinion  so  strongly  that  I  should 
consider  it  unnecessary  to  legislate  on  the  subject 
at  all  as  far  as  that  class  is  concerned,  but  to  the 
ruling  of  the  Supreme  Court  to  which  I  have  ad 
verted." 

On  the  31st  the  Senate  resumed  its  consideration  ; 
and  Mr.  Davis  of  Kentucky  spoke  in  opposition  to 
the  bill  which  he  deemed  one  of  the  most  impor 
tant  ever  presented  to  Congress.  He  denied  the 
citizenship  of  the  negro ;  he  was  no  part  of  the 
governing  power.  The  constitution  "ignored  the 
black  man ;  it  paid  no  attention  to  him ;  it  was 
made  by  a  different  race  of  beings  ;  it  did  not  com 
prehend  him ;  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  it  any 
more  than  the  Indian  of  the  forest  had,  any  more 
than  the  Chinaman  in  California  had  in  the  forma 
tion  of  the  Constitution  of  that  State." 

On  the  1st  of  February  the  consideration  of  the 
bill  was  resumed,  and  Mr.  Morrill  of  Maine  spoke 
on  the  pending  amendment  defining  citizenship. 
He  pronounced  the  amendment  important  as  a 
declaration  of  American  law ; — as  a  definition. 
there  is  anything,"  he  said,  "with  which  the  Ameri 
can  people  are  troubled,  and  if  there  is  anything 
with  which  the  American  statesman  is  perplexed 


124  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

and  vexed,  it  is  what  to  do  with  the  negro,  how  to 
/define  him,  what  he  is  in  American  law,  and  to  what 
I  rights  he  is  entitled.  "What  shall  we  do  with  the 
\  everlasting,  inevitable  negro  ?  is  the  question  which 
puzzles  all  brains  and  vexes  all  statesmanship.  Now 
as  a  definition,  this  amendment  settles  it.  Hitherto 
we  have  said  that  he  was  a  nondescript  in  our  stat 
utes  ;  he  had  no  status  ;  he  was  ubiquitous  ;  he  was 
both  man  and  thing ;  he  was  three-fifths  of  a  per 
son  for  representation  and  he  was  a  thing  for  com 
merce  and  for  use.  In  the  highest  sense,  then,  in 
which  any  definition  can  ever  be  held,  this  bill  is 
important  as  a  definition.  It  defines  him  to  be  a 
man,  and  only  a  man  in  American  politics  and  in 
American  law ;  it  puts  him  on  the  plane  of  man 
hood  ;  it  brings  him  within  the  pale  of  the  Consti 
tution.  That  is  all  it  does  as  a  definition,  and  there 
it  leaves  him." 

Mr.  Henderson,  Mr.  Williams,  Mr.  Trumbull,  Mr. 
Johnson  and  Mr.  Hendricks  continued  the  debate 
on  Mr.  Trumbull's  amendment  defining  citizenship, 
and  it  was  agreed  to. — Yeas  31,  nays  10.  Mr.  Davis 
discussed  at  much  length  the  general  provisions  of 
the  bill,  and  without  concluding  yielded  to  a  motion 
to  adjourn.  On  the  2d  the  debate  was  resumed, 
and  Mr.  Davis  spoke  at  great  length,  denouncing 
the  bill  as  outrageous,  partial,  unjust,  iniquitous, 
monstrous,  diabolical ; — a  bill  for  the  benefit  of  the 
free  negro. 

Mr.  Trumbull  in  reply  desired  to  know  what  the 


IN     CONGRESS.  125 

bill  was  that  was  obnoxious  to  the  terrible  epithets 
of  the  Senator  from  Kentucky.  He  said,  "It  is  a 
bill  providing  that  all  people  shall  have  equal  rights. 
Is  not  that  abominable  ?  Is  not  that  iniquitous  ? 
Is  not  that  most  monstrous  ?  Is  not  that  terrible 
on  white  men  ?  When  was  such  legislation  as  this 
ever  thought  of  for  white  men  ? " 

I  have  a  very  distinct  conviction,"  said  Mr.  Guthrie 
of  Kentucky,  "that  this  bill  is  not  warranted  by 
the  Constitution,  and  is  not  warranted  by  good 
policy,  and  sound  statesmanship."  He  was  in  favor 
of  the  States  remodelling  their  laws,  and  he  ad 
vised  that  there  should  be  but  one  code  for  all  per 
sons  black  and  white.  The  States  must  have  time 
to  act,  and  they  were  entitled  to  some  considera- 
ation  before  military  governments  were  inflicted 
upon  them. 

Mr.  Hendricks  earnestly  opposed  the  passage  of 
the  bill.  He  was  followed  by  Mr.  Lane  of  Indiana 
in  a  brief  and  eloquent  speech  in  its  favor.  He 
said  :  "  My  distinguished  colleague,  if  I  understand 
him  aright,  places  his  objection  to  this  bill,  first, 
upon  the  ground  that  we  have  pressed  into  the 
service  the  machinery  of  the  fugitive  slave  law ; 
and  secondly,  that  we  authorize  this  bill  to  be  en 
forced  by  the  military  authority  of  the  United 
States.  It  is  true  that  many  of  the  provisions  of 
this  bill,  changed  in  their  purpose  and  object,  are 
almost  identical  with  the  provisions  of  the  fugitive 
slave  law,  and  they  are  denounced  by  my  colleague 


126  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

in  their  present  application ;  but  I  have  not  heard 
any  denunciation  from  my  colleague,  or  from  any 
of  those  associated  with  him,  of  the  provisions  of 
that  fugitive  slave  law  which  was  enacted  in  the 
interest  of  slavery,  and  for  purposes  of  oppression, 
and  which  was  an  unworthy,  cowardly,  disgraceful 
concession  to  southern  opinion  by  northern  politi 
cians.  I  have  suffered  no  suitable  opportunity  to 
escape  me  to  denounce  the  monstrous  character  of 
that  fugitive  slave  act  of  1850.  All  these  provi 
sions  were  odious  and  disgraceful  in  my  opinion, 
when  applied  in  the  interest  of  slavery,  when  the 
object  was  to  strike  down  the  rights  of  man.  But 
here  the  purpose  is  changed.  These  provisions  are 
in  the  interest  of  freemen  and  of  freedom,  and 
what  was  odious  in  the  one  case  becomes  highly 
meritorious  in  the  other.  It  is  an  instance  of  poetic 
justice  and  of  apt  retribution  that  God  has  caused 
the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  Him.  I  stand  by  every 
provision  of  this  bill,  drawn  as  it  is  from  that  most 
iniquitous  fountain,  the  fugitive  slave  law  of  1850." 
Mr.  Wilson  of  Massachusetts  followed  Mr.  Lane 
in  advocacy  of  the  measure.  "  This  legislation,"  he 
said,  "is  called  for  because  these  reconstructed  legis 
latures,  in  defiance  of  the  rights  of  the  freedmen 
and  the  will  of  the  nation  embodied  in  the  amend 
ment  to  the  Constitution,  have  enacted  laws  nearly 
as  iniquitous  as  the  old  slave  codes  that  darkened 
^  the  legislation  of  other  days.  The  needs  of  more 
than  four  million  colored  men  imperatively  call  for 


IN    CONGRESS.  127 

its  enactment.  The  Constitution  authorizes  and 
the  national  will  demands  it.  By  a  series  of  legis 
lative  acts,  by  executive  proclamations,  by  military 
orders,  and  by  the  adoption  of  the  amendment  to 
the  Constitution  by  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
the  gigantic  system  of  human  slavery  that  dark 
ened  the  land,  controlled  the  policy  and  swayed  the 
destinies  of  the  Republic,  has  forever  perished. 
Step  by  step  we  have  marched  right  on  from  one 
victory  to  another  with  the  music  of  broken  fetters 
ringing  in  our  ears.  None  of  the  series  of  acts  in 
this  beneficent  legislation  of  Congress,  none  of  the 
proclamations  of  the  Executive,  none  of  these 
military  orders  protecting  rights  secured  by  law 
will  ever  be  revoked  or  amended  by  the  voice  of 
the  American  people. 

By  the  will  of  the  nation  freedom  and  free  insti 
tutions  for  ah1,  chains  and  fetters  for  none,  are  for 
ever  incorporated  in  the  fundamental  law  of  regen 
erated  and  united  America.  Slave  codes  and  auction 
blocks,  chains  and  fetters  and  bloodhounds  are 
things  of  the  past,  and  the  chattel  stands  forth  a 
man  with  the  rights  and  the  powers  of  the  free 
man.  For  the  better  security  of  these  new  born 
civil  rights  we  are  now  about  to  pass  the  greatest 
and  the  grandest  act  in  this  series  of  acts  that  have 
emancipated  a  race  and  disenthralled  a  nation.  It 
will  pass,  it  will  go  upon  the  statute-book  of  the 
Republic  by  the  voice  of  the  American  people,  and 
there  it  will  remain.  From  the  verdict  of  Congress 


128  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

in  favor  of  this  great  measure  no  appeal  will  ever 
be  entertained  by  the  people  of  the  United  States." 

Mr.  Cowan  thought  the  proposition  was  to  sub 
stitute  the  bayonet  and  the  sabre  for  argument,  law 
and  reason.  "If  this  is  to  be/'  he  said,  "a  consoli 
dated  Government,  if  all  power  is  to  be  concen 
trated  at  "Washington,  if  all  the  powers  heretofore 
reserved  to  the  States  are  to  be  given  to  this  Gov 
ernment,  let  us  know  it." 

Mr.  McDougall  declared  that  this  and  similar 
legislation  was  fraught  with  infinite  mischief;  in 
fringing  clearly  upon  the  Constitution  and  also 
upon  the  rules  of  sound  governmental  policy.  Mr. 
Trumbull  replied  to  Mr.  Hendricks  and  Mr.  Cowan. 
The  vote  was  taken  on  Mr.  Hendricks'  amendment 
to  strike  out  the  tenth  section  authorizing  the  use 
of  the  military  forces  to  enforce  the  act,  and  the 
amendment  was  rejected. — Yeas  12,  nays  34.  Mr. 
Saulsbury  maintained  that  civil  rights  included  the 
right  of  suffrage,  and  he  moved  to  add  after  the 
words  "civil  rights,"  "except  the  right  to  vote  in 
the  States,"  but  the  amendment  was  rejected. — 
Yeas  7,  nays  39.  At  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Norton 
of  Minnesota  the  bill  was  slightly  amended,  and 
then  passed  by  the  following  vote. — Yeas,  33, 
nays,  12. 

In  the  House  of  Kepresentatives  on  the  1st  of 
March,  Mr.  Wilson  of  Iowa,  chairman  of  the  Com 
mittee  on  the  Judiciary,  moved  to  reconsider  his 
motion  to  refer  the  bill  to  that  Committee,  and  the 


IN   CONGRESS.  129 

vote  to  refer  was  reconsidered.  The  House  then 
proceeded  to  its  consideration,  and  amended  it  so 
as  to  provide  that  there  should  be  no  discrimina 
tion  in  civil  rights  among  "citizens"  instead  of ''inhab 
itants."  Mr.  Wilson  then  addressed  the  House  in 
support  of  the  measure.  He  thought  few  meas 
ures  of  graver  importance  commanded  the  atten 
tion  of  Congress.  He  admitted  that  precedents 
both  judicial  and  legislative  were  found  in  sharp 
conflict  with  its  provisions.  He  declared  that  the 
line  which  divided  these  precedents  was  generally 
found  to  be  the  same  which  separated  the  early 
from  the  later  days  of  the  Republic.  "The  further," 
he  said,  "the  Government  drifted  from  the  old 
moorings  of  equality  and  human  rights,  the  more 
numerous  became  judicial  and  legislative  utterances 
in  conflict  with  some  of  the  leading  features  of  this 
bill." 

Mr.  Rogers  of  New  Jersey,  the  democratic  mem 
ber  of  the  Judiciary  Committee,  obtained  the  floor 
but  yielded  it  to  Mr.  Raymond  of  New  York,  who 
called  the  attention  of  the  House  to  a  bill  intro 
duced  by  him  early  in  the  session,  "aiming  at  pre 
cisely  the  same  general  object  contemplated  in  the 
bill  before  the  House,  and  asserting  the  same  great 
principle."  The  bill  provided  that  "in  the  matter 
of  naturalization  there  should  be  no  distinction  of 
race  or  color ;  and  that  all  persons  born  within  the 
limits  of  the  United  States,  should  be  declared  citi 
zens,  and  entitled  to  all  rights  and  privileges  as  such." 
9 


130  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

Mr.  Raymond  announced  his  intention  to  move  his 
bill  as  a  substitute  for  the  Senate  bill  when  it  should 
be  in  order  to  do  so. 

Mr.  Rogers  then  spoke  in  opposition  to  the  bill, 
pronouncing  it  "  despotic  and  tyrannical  as  was  the 
legislation  of  the  British  parliament,  when  it  at 
tempted  to  force  upon  the  American  colonies  '  tax 
ation  without  representation.' " 

He  was  followed  by  Mr.  Cook  of  Illinois,  another 
member  of  the  Judiciary  Committee,  who  expressed 
his  astonishment  on  finding  that  in  the  estimation 
of  Mr.  Rogers  this  bill  was  "designed  to  deprive 
somebody  in  some  State  of  this  Union  of  some 
right  which  he  has  heretofore  enjoyed.  I  have  ex 
amined  this  bill  with  some  care,  and  so  far  as  I  have 
been  able  to  understand  it,  I  have  found  nothing  in 
any  provision  of  it  which  tends  in  any  way  to  take 
from  any  man,  white  or  black,  a  single  right  he  en 
joys  under  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United 
States."  He  maintained  that  it  was  idle  to  say  the 
freedman  would  be  protected  by  the  States.  They 
had  already  passed  laws  so  abhorrent  to  the  spirit 
of  the  government  and  the  spirit  of  the  age,  that 
they  had  been  set  aside  by  the  military  power.  If 
any  man  believed  that  the  freedman  would  be  pre 
served  without  the  aid  of  Federal  legislation,  he 
was  strangely  blind  to  the  enactments  passed  by 
men  who  were  proving  day  by  day  that  they  desired 
to  oppress  them. 

On  the  2d  the  House  resumed  the  consideration 


IN    CONGRESS,  131 

of  the  bill,  and  Mr.  Thayer  of  Pennsylvania  elo 
quently  advocated  its  passage. 

Mr.  Hill  of  Indiana  moved  to  amend  the  motion 
to  recommit  the  bill  by  instructing  the  Judiciary 
Committee  to  so  report  it  as  to  exclude  from  citizen 
ship  "those  who  have  voluntarily  borne  arms  against 
the  Government  of  the  United  States,  or  given  aid 
and  comfort  to  the  enemies  thereof." 

Mr.  Eldridge  of  Wisconsin  spoke  briefly  in  oppo 
sition  to  the  bill.  The  advocates  of  the  measure 
he  said  were  great  sticklers  for  equality  and  insisted 
that  there  should  be  no  distinction  on  account  of 
race  or  color.  He  emphatically  declared  that 
"every  provision  of  the  bill  carried  upon  its  face 
the  distinction,  and  is  calculated  to  perpetuate  it 
forever  as  long  as  the  act  shall  be  in  force." 

Mr.  Dumont  of  Indiana  moved  to  amend  Mr. 
Hill's  amendment  so  that  nothing  therein  should  be 
construed  as  re-extending  the  "rights  of  citizenship 
to  any  one  who  has  renounced  the  same,  or  ac 
knowledged  allegiance  to  any  government  or  pre 
tended  government  in  hostility  to  the  United 
States,  or  held  office  under  the  same,  nor  to  any 
one  who  voluntarily  has  borne  arms  against  the 
United  States  in  the  late  rebellion." 

Mr.  Miller  of  Pennsylvania  moved  to  amend  by 
adding  that  judges  of  State  courts  be  exempted 
from  the  penalties  imposed  by  this  section. 

Mr.  Thornton  of  Illinois  made  a  legal  argument 
against  the  power  of  Congress  to  enact  the  bilL 


132  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

He  maintained  that  "the  States  had  the  right  to  de 
termine  and  fix  the  legal  status  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  respective  States,  the  local  powers  of  self- 
government,  the  power  to  regulate  all  the  re 
lations  that  exist  between  husband  and  wife,  parent 
and  child,  guardian  and  ward,  all  the  fireside  arid 
home  rights  which  are  nearer  and  dearer  to  us  than 
all  others." 

"A  true  Kepublic,"  said  Mr.  Windom  of  Minne 
sota,  "rests  upon  the  absolute  equality  of  rights  of 
the  whole  people,  high  and  low,  rich  and  poor,  white 
and  black.  Upon  this,  the  only  foundation  which 
can  permanently  endure,  we  professed  to  build  our 
Kepublic  ;  but  at  the  same  time  we  not  only  denied 
to  a  large  portion  of  the  people  equality  of  rights, 
but  we  robbed  them  of  every  right  known  to  hu 
man  nature.  If  there  was  any  objection  to  the  bill, 
it  did  not  go  far  enough,  but  so  far  as  it  did  go  it 
was  in  strict  conformity  with  the  spirit  and  design 
of  the  grand  old  architects  who,  when  they  laid  the 
foundations  of  our  republican  edifice,  made  these 
rights  of  human  nature  the  chief  corner  stone." 

Mr.  Shellabarger  spoke  briefly  in  explanation  of 
the  powers  of  the  Government  relative  to  naturaliza 
tion.  The  bill  was  amended  on  motion  of  Mr.  \Yilson, 
by  authorizing  the  commissioners  to  exercise  and 
discharge  all  the  powers  and  duties  they  were  au 
thorized  by  law  to  exercise  with  reference  to  offences 
against  the  laws  of  the  United  States.  The  fifth 
section  relating  to  the  powers  of  the  commissioners, 


IN   CONGRESS.  133 

was,  on  motion  of  Mr.  "Wilson,  stricken  out,  and  the 
bill  went  over  to  the  8th. 

On  that  day  the  House  resumed  the  considera 
tion  of  the  bill,  and  Mr.  Broomall  of  Pennsylvania 
earnestly  advocated  its  passage.  The  loyal  allies 
of  the  Government  at  the  south  "are  imploring  us," 
he  said,  "to  protect  them  against  the  conquered 
enemies  of  the  country,  who,  notwithstanding  their 
surrender,  have  managed,  through  their  skill  or  our 
weakness,  to  seize  nearly  all  the  conquered  terri 
tory.  This  is  not  the  first  instance  in  the  world's 
history  in  which  all  that  had  been  gained  by  hard 
fighting  was  lost  by  bad  diplomacy." 

%:  %  %  %  %  %  %  % 

"He  would  never  consent  that  the  Government 
should  desert  its  allies  in  the  south  and  surrender 
their  rights  and  interests  to  the  enemy,  and  in  this 
he  would  make  no  distinction  of  caste  or  color 
among  friends  or  foes.  A  nation  which  could  with 
draw  its  protection  from  such  allies,  at  such  a  time, 
without  their  full  and  free  consent,  could  hope  for 
neither  the  approval  of  mankind  nor  the  blessing 
of  Heaven." 

Mr.  Davis  of  New  York  had  maintained  and  was 
ever  ready  to  maintain  that  it  was  the  solemn  duty 
of  the  Government  to  protect  the  property  and 
person  of  every  loyal  man,  and  he  was  ready  to  go 
as  far  as  any  one  to  protect  loyal  citizens ;  but  he 
questioned  that  provision  of  the  bill  which  provided 
that  a  judicial  officer  of  a  State,  who  performed  his 


134  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

duties  in  obedience  to  the  laws  of  that  State,  was 
to  be  arrested  and  imprisoned,  before  a  court  of 
Federal  jurisdiction  should  have  pronounced  upon 
the  constitutionality  of  the  law  which  prohibited 
him  from  performing  his  duty  as  a  State  officer. 

Mr.  Bingham  of  Ohio  moved  to  amend  the  mo 
tion  to  recommit  by  adding,  "with  instructions  to 
strike  out  of  the  first  section  of  the  bill  the  follow 
ing,  to  wit:  'And  there  shall  be  no  discrimination 
in  civil  rights  or  immunities  among  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  in  any  State  or  Territory  of  the 
United  States  on  account  of  race,  color,  or  previous 
condition  of  slavery.'  Also  to  strike  out  all  parts 
of  said  bill  which  are  penal  and  which  authorize 
criminal  proceedings,  and  in  lieu  thereof  to  give  to 
all  citizens  of  the  United  States  injured  by  denial 
or  violation  of  any  of  the  other  rights  secured  or 
protected  by  said  act,  an  action  in  the  United  States 
courts,  with  double  costs  in  all  cases  of  emergency, 
without  regard  to  the  amount  of  damages." 

Mr.  Eaymond  of  New  York  said  the  right  of 
citizenship  "involved  everything  else.  Make  the 
colored  man  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  and  he 
has  every  right  which  you  or  I  have  as  citizens  of 
the  United  States  under  the  laws  and  Constitution 
of  the  United  States.  He  has  the  right  of  free 
passage  from  one  State  to  another,  any  law  in  any 
State  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.  He  has  a 
defined  status ;  he  has  a  country  and  a  home ;  a 
right  to  defend  himself  and  his  wife  and  children ; 


IN   CONGRESS.  135 

a  right  to  bear  arms ;  a  right  to  testify  in  the  Fed 
eral  courts;  he  has  all  those  rights  that  tend  to 
elevate  him  and  educate  him  for  still  higher  reaches 
in  the  process  of  elevation."  He  announced  his 
readiness  to  co-operate  with  any  portion  of  the 
House  in  securing  so  high  and  laudable  an  object, 
but  he  could  not  vote  for  attaining  that  object  by 
unconstitutional  means.  "Is  it  just,"  he  asked,  "is 
it  right,  have  we  the  power  to  say  that  the  judge 
of  a  State  court  shall  be  punished  by  fine  and  im 
prisonment  for  enforcing  a  State  law  ?" 

Mr.  Delano  of  Ohio  avowed  his  willingness  to 
vote  for  the  bill  if  Mr.  Bingham's  amendment 
should  be  adopted,  but  he  could  not  attempt  to  ex 
ercise  powers  by  the  General  Government,  which 
if  carried  out  would  endanger  the  liberties  of  the 
country.  "We  have,  he  remarked,  "a  Government 
of  which  we  may  be  proud,  a  Government  that  is 
to  live,  a  Government  that  rests  upon  granted 
powers  of  a  limited  character ;  and  if  we  sustain  it 
and  do  not  make  it  a  tyranny,  do  not  convert  it 
into  a  usurpation,  it  will  be  a  Government  loved  by 
the  people,  cherished  by  the  people,  wherein  civil 
liberty  will  be  established,  I  trust,  forever,  and  the 
power  of  man  for  self-government  be  illustrated." 

Mr.  Kerr  of  Indiana  made  an  elaborate  speech 
against  the  power  and  expediency  of  passing  the 
measure. 

On  the  9th  Mr.  Wilson  of  Iowa  took  the  floor  to 
close  the  debate,  but  yielded  half  of  his  time  to 


136  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

Mr.  Bingham,  who  addressed  the  House  in  support 
of  his  amendment,  and  in  opposition  to  the  meas 
ure.  He  maintained  that  the  term  "political  rights " 
was  only  a  limitation  of  the  term  "civil  rights,"  and 
that  all  political  rights  wrere  embraced  in  the  term 
"civil  rights;"  that  Blackstone,  whose  Commen 
taries  on  the  common  law  are  so  exact  in  defini 
tion,  uses  in  that  classic  of  the  law  the  terms  "  civil 
liberty"  and  "political  liberty"  everywhere  as  syn 
onymous.  It  never  occurred  to  him  that  there  was 
a  colorable  distinction  between  them.  He  main 
tained  with  John  Quincy  Adams,  that  "in  time  of 
war,  whether  it  be  civil  or  foreign  war,  the  public 
safety  becomes  the  highest  law ;  and  tribunals  of 
States  and  institutions  of  States,  to  use  his  own  terse 
words,  'go  by  the  board  for  the  time  being.'  But 
when  peace  is  restored  ;  when  the  courts  of  justice 
are  opened ;  when  the  white-robed  ministers  take 
the  golden  scales  into  their  hands,  justice  is  to  be 
administered  under  the  Constitution,  according  to 
the  Constitution,  and  within  the  limitation  of  the 
Constitution." 

Mr.  Shellabarger,  with  the  consent  of  Mr.  Wilson, 
who  was  entitled  to  the  floor,  spoke  briefly  in  favor 
of  the  measure.  "My  mind,"  he  said,  "I  frankly 
state  has  not  reached  satisfactorily  the  conclusion 
that  there  is  no  doubt  as  to  whether  we  have  power 
to  enact  the  first  section  of  this  bill;  and  if  we 
have  not  power  to  pass,  the  first  section,  then  we 
cannot  enact  the  second.  My  mind,  however,  has 


IN    CONGRESS.  137 

come  to  a  conclusion  which,  although  not  a  settled 
conviction  in  which  I  can  say  that  my  mind  rests, 
yet  I  shall  resolve  the  doubts  which  I  have,  if  I  can 
say  I  have  any,  in  favor  of  the  security  and  protec 
tion  of  the  American  citizen  for  which  the  bill  is 
meant  to  provide." 

Mr.  Wilson  then  closed  the  debate.  He  said, 
"Sir,  I  do  not  intend  to  be  driven  or  lured  from  the 
position  I  took  at  the  opening  of  this  discussion  in 
justification  of  this  bill,  by  any  of  the  6  glittering 
generalities'  which  have  been  drawn  into  the  dis 
cussion.  I  affirmed  on  that  occasion,  and  I  reaffirm 
here  to-day,  that  citizens  of  the  United  States,  as' 
such,  are  entitled  to  certain  rights ;  and  I  stand  here 
to-day  to  affirm  that  being  entitled  to  those  rights 
it  is  the  duty  of  the  Government  to  protect  citizens 
in  the  perfect  enjoyment  of  them.  The  citizen  is 
entitled  to  life,  liberty,  and  the  right  to  property." 

Mr.  Latham  of  West  Virginia  avowed  it  to  be  his 
conviction  that  "Congress  has  no  right  under  the 
Constitution  to  interfere  with  the  internal  policy  of 
the  several  States  so  as  to  define  and  regulate  the 
civil  rights  and  immunities  among  the  inhabitants." 
Mr.  Eldridge  moved  that  the  whole  subject  be  laid 
upon  the  table. — Yeas  32,  nays  118.  The  question 
then  recurred  on  the  motion  of  Mr.  Bingham  to 
amend  the  motion  to  recommit,  and  it  was  rejected. 
Yeas  31,  nays  113.  The  bill  was  then  recommitted 
to  the  Judiciary  Committee. — Yeas  82,  nays  70. 

On  the  13th  Mr.  Wilson  of  Iowa  reported  the  bill 


138  RECONSTRUCTION     MEASURES 

with  an  amendment,  so  that  the  section  would  read, 
66  That  all  persons  born  in  the  United  States  and  not 
subject  to  any  foreign  Power,  excluding  Indians  not 
taxed,  are  hereby  declared  to  be  citizens  of  the 
United  States ;  and  such  citizens  of  every  race  and 
color,  without  regard  to  any  previous  condition  of 
slavery  or  involuntary  servitude,  except  as  a  pun 
ishment  for  crime  whereof  the  party  shall  have 
been  duly  convicted,  shall  have  the  same  right  to 
make  and  enforce  contracts,  to  sue,  be  parties,  and 
give  evidence,  to  inherit,  purchase,  lease,  sell,  hold, 
and  convey  real  and  personal  property,  and  to  full 
and  equal  benefit  of  all  laws  and  proceedings  for 
the  security  of  person  and  property  as  is  enjoyed 
by  white  citizens,  and  shall  be  subject  to  like  pun 
ishment,  pains  and  penalties,  and  to  none  other,  any 
law,  statute,  ordinance,  regulation,  or  custom  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding." 

The  bill  was  further  amended  by  adding  "that 
upon  all  questions  of  law  arising  in  any  case  under 
the  provisions  of  this  act  a  final  appeal  may  be 
taken  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States." 
Mr.  Hill  inquired  what  had  become  of  the  amend 
ment  that  nothing  in  the  bill  should  be  construed 
to  affect  the  right  of  suffrage.  Mr.  Wilson  replied 
that  the  amendment  to  the  first  section  struck  out 
all  the  general  terms  of  the  bill,  and  left  it  with 
the  rights  specified,  so  that  provision  was  unneces 
sary.  The  previous  question  was  then  ordered  and 
the  bill  passed. — Yeas  111,  nays  38. 


IN   CONGRESS.  139 

In  the  Senate  on  the  14th,  Mr.  Trumbull  report 
ed  in  favor  of  concurring  in  the  amendment  of  the 
House,  but  Mr.  Davis  objecting,  it  went  over.  On 
the  15th  it  was  taken  up  and  the  several  amend 
ments  of  the  House  concurred  in.  Mr.  Davis  then 
moved  that  the  bill  be  postponed  to  the  first  Mon 
day  in  December  and  entered  his  protest  against  its 
passage. 

On  the  27th  the  President  returned  the  bill  to 
the  Senate  with  his  objections.  After  the  message 
had  been  read  and  ordered  to  be  printed,  Mr.  Cowan 
moved  that  the  Senate  adjourn. — Yeas  14,  nays  28. 
Mr.  Trumbull  expressed  a  desire  to  make  some  re 
marks  upon  the  veto  and  the  Senate  then  ad 
journed. 

On  the  4th  of  April  Mr.  Trumbull  addressed  the 
Senate  in  an  elaborate  and  able  speech  in  review 
of  the  veto  message.  He  maintained  that  Ameri 
can  citizenship  would  be  worth  little  if  it  did  not 
carry  protection  with  it. 

Mr.  Johnson  on  the  5th  spoke  at  length  in  sup 
port  of  the  veto.  "If  there  be  anything,"  he  said, 
"that  may  be  considered  as  true  in  the  past  in  con 
stitutional  law,  it  is  that  over  every  one  of  these 
rights,  or  to  speak  more  correctly,  over  every  one 
of  the  subjects  to  which  these  rights  are  made  to 
attach,  the  jurisdiction  of  the  States  was  exclusive. 
If  Congress  can  legislate  in  relation  to  these  rights 
in  behalf  of  the  black,  why  cannot  they  legislate 
in  relation  to  the  same  rights  in  behalf  of  the 


140  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

white  ?     And  if  they  can  legislate  in  relation  to 
both,  the  States  are  abolished." 

Mr.  Yates  of  Illinois  reminded  Mr.  Johnson  that 
he  had  moved  to  strike  out  of  the  Freedman's  Bu 
reau  bill  "without  distinction  of  color/'  and  that 
for  the  reason,  that  "under  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  as  amended,  abolishing  slavery  in  all 
the  States  and  Territories  of  the  United  States,  the 
freedman  occupied  precisely  the  same  position  with 
any  other  citizen."  "If,"  said  Mr.  Trumbull  in  reply 
to  Mr.  Johnson,  "the  Senator  is  right,  and  Ameri 
can  citizenship,  that  is,  being  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  confers  no  rights  in  a  State,  does  not  allow 
the  citizen  to  leave  there,  or  to  go  there,  I  should 
like  to  know  what  this  American  citizenship  is 
worth,  and  what  it  amounts  to."  Mr.  Cowan  and 
Mr.  McDougall  were  anxious  to  fix  a  time  for  taking 
the  vote,  to  accommodate  Mr.  Dixon  and  Mr.  Wright 
who  were  sick.  No  arrangement  being  made,  Mr. 
Cowan  proceeded  to  speak  at  great  length  against 
the  measure,  pronouncing  it  unconstitutional,  atro 
cious,  dangerous,  unworthy  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States.  It  was  incumbent  on  the  friends  of 
the  measure  to  show  conclusively  that  "it  is  such  a 
bill  as  we  have  the  power  to  pass,  and  that  it  is 
one  which  it  would  be  expedient  and  politic  for  us 
to  pass."  Mr.  Stewart  had  voted  for  the  bill  and 
had  seen  no  good  reason  why  he  should  change  his 
opinion.  Mr.  Hendricks  desired  to  fix  the  hour  of 
four  on  the  morrow  for  taking  the  vote,  and  Mr. 


IN   CONGRESS.  141 

Guthrie  appealed  to  the  courtesy  of  the  Senate  to 
agree  upon  an  hour  so  that  Mr.  Wright  and  Mr. 
Dixon  might  be  brought  in  to  vote.  Mr.  Trumbull 
had  no  objection  to  fixing  four  o'clock  the  next  day. 
Mr.  Wade  said  if  it  was  a  question  of  ordinary 
legislation  he  would  not  object,  but  he  viewed  it  as 
one  of  the  greatest  questions  that  had  ever  come 
before  the  Senate,  having  bearings  altogether  above 
the  question  on  the  bill.  "If,"  he  said,  "the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States  can  interpose  his  au 
thority  upon  a  question  of  this  character,  and  can 
compel  Congress  to  succumb  to  his  dictation,  he  is 
an  Emperor,  a  despot  and  not  a  President  of  the 
United  States.  Because  I  believe  the  great  ques 
tion  of  congressional  power  and  authority  is  at 
stake  here,  I  yield  to  no  importunities  of  the  other 
side.  I  feel  myself  justified  in  taking  every  ad 
vantage  which  the  Almighty  has  put  into  my  hands 
to  defend  the  power  and  authority  of  this  body,  of 
which  I  claim  to  be  a  part ;  I  will  not  yield  to  these 
appeals  of  comity  on  a  question  like  this ;  but  I 
will  tell  the  President  and  everybody  else,  that  if 
God  Almighty  has  stricken  one  member  so  that  he 
cannot  be  here  to  uphold  the  dictation  of  a  despot, 
I  thank  Him  for  His  interposition,  and  I  will  take 
advantage  of  it  if  I  can." 

This  declaration  was  received  with  manifestations 
of  applause  in  the  crowded  galleries.  "The  Senator," 
said  Mr.  McDougall,  "is  in  the  habit  of  appealing  to 
his  God  in  vindication  of  his  judgment  and  con- 


142  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

duct ;  it  is  a  common  thing  for  him  to  do  so ;  but 
in  view  of  the  present  demonstration,  it  may  well 
be  asked  who  and  what  is  his  God.  In  the  old  Per 
sian  mythology  there  was  an  Ormuzd  and  an  Ahri- 
man — a  god  of  light  and  beauty,  and  a  god  of  dark 
ness  and  death.  The  god  of  light  sent  the  sun  to 
shine  and  gentle  showers  to  fructify  the  fields ;  the 
god  of  darkness  sent  the  tornado  and  the  tempest 
and  the  thunder  scathing  with  pestilence  the  na 
tions.  And  in  old  Chaldean  times  men  came  to 
worship  Ahriman,  the  god  of  darkness,  the  god  of 
pestilence  and  famine ;  and  his  priests  became  mul 
titudinous,  they  swarmed  the  land,  and  when  men 
prayed  then  their  offerings  were,  'We  will  not  sow 
a  field  of  grain,  we  will  not  dig  a  well,  we  will  not 
plant  a  tree.'  These  were  the  offerings  to  the  dark 
spirit  of  evil  until  a  prophet  came  who  redeemed 
that  ancient  land ;  but  he  did  it  after  crucifixion, 
like  our  great  Master. 

The  followers  of  Ahriman  always  appealed  to 
the  same  spirit  manifested  by  the  Senator  from 
Ohio.  Death  is  to  be  one  of  his  angels  now  to  re 
deem  the  Constitution  and  the  laws  and  to  establish 
liberty.  Sickness,  suffering,  evil,  are  to  be  his  an 
gels  ;  and  he  thanks  the  Almighty,  his  Almighty, 
that  sickness,  clanger,  and  evil  are  about." 

Mr.  Guthrie  did  not  want  it  to  go  out  that  we 
would  not  do  a  courtesy  to  sick  Senators  because 
w^e  could  pass  a  bill  without  their  votes,  when  we 
could  not  if  they  were  present  "I  ask  the  Senate 


IX    CONGRESS.  143 

to  make  this  postponement  and  teach  the  Senator 
from  Ohio  that  he  is  not  the  one-man  power  here." 

Mr.  Hendricks  then  renewed  the  appeal  to  Sena 
tors  to  take  the  vote  at  four  on  the  morrow ;  Mr. 
Brown  agreed  to  it  and  Mr.  Conness  objected.  Mr. 
Trumbull  thought  the  friends  of  the  bill  would  gain 
nothing  by  a  struggle  that  night,  and  they  would 
try  and  get  a  vote  the  next  day.  On  motion  of 
Mr.  Hendricks  the  Senate  adjourned. — Yeas  33, 
nays  12. 

The  debate  was  renewed  on  the  6th  by  Mr.  Wade. 
He  said :  "  Some  gentlemen  may  be  patient  under 
the  charge  of  treason,  perhaps  the  more  so  because 
treason  is  becoming  popular  in  this  day ;  but,  sir,  I 
am  a  little  too  old  fashioned  to  be  charged  by  the 
executive  branch  of  this  Government  as  a  traitor 
on  the  floor  of  Congress,  and  not  resent  it.  I  do 
not  care  whether  he  be  King  or  President  that  in 
sinuates  that  I  am  a  disunionist  or  traitor,  standing 
upon  the  same  infamous  platform  with  the  traitors 
of  the  South,  I  will  not  take  it  from  any  mortal 
man,  high  or  low,  without  repelling  the  charge." 

Mr.  Lane  of  Kansas  replied  to  Mr.  Wade,  and  de 
fended  the  action  of  the  President.  The  Senator 
from  Ohio  had  charged  the  President,  he  said,  with 
treachery,  with  being  a  dictator  and  a  despot.  "  As 
a  Republican,  as  one  devoted  to  the  interests  of  that 
party,  as  a  lover  of  my  country,  desirous  of  its 
early  restoration,  I  throw  back  the  charge  of  dicta 
torship,  despotism  and  treachery." 


144  RECONSTRUCTION  MEASURES 

Mr.  Brown  of  Missouri  would  have  said  nothing 
but  for  the  allusion  of  Mr.  Lane  to  the  bill  guaran 
teeing  to  certain  States  whose  governments  have 
been  usurped  or  overthrown,  a  Republican  form  of 
Government.  "When  that  bill/'  he  said,  "was  pressed 
upon  the  Senate,  containing  as  it  did  a  feature  in  it 
which  excluded  the  negro  in  the  southern  States  from 
suffrage,  I  for  one,  announced  myself  as  utterly  op 
posed  to  the  bill.  I  furthermore  stated  on  the  floor 
of  the  Senate,  publicly,  that  I  never  would  vote  for 
that  bill,  or  for  any  other  bill  reconstructing  those 
States,  that  did  not  guarantee  to  that  class  of  citi 
zens,  the  loyal  colored  population  of  the  South,  a 
right  of  suffrage.  I  desire  to  reiterate  that  state 
ment  to  day,  sir,  and  to  say  that  by  no  possibility 
and  at  no  time  and  under  no  circumstances,  will  I 
cast  any  vote  for  restoring  those  States  to  their 
original  status  in  the  Union,  and  admitting  back 
here  their  Senators  to  participate  in  our  legislation, 
until  suffrage  shall  have  been  granted  to  that  class 
of  people.  I  believe  no  other  reconstruction  will 
ever  give  peace  to  the  South,  security  to  the  North, 
or  permanent  and  contented  union  to  both  sections, 
to  all  classes  and  to  every  race."  Mr.  Brown  fur 
ther  said  that  he  did  "approve  of  the  action  of  the 
President  in  defeating  that  bill,  but  it  was  because 
I  opposed  it  throughout  and  thought  it  would  have 
been  a  most  unjust  and  disastrous  measure." 

Mr.  Doolittle  of  Wisconsin  defended  the  action 
of  the  President,  claiming  that  he  was  continuing 


IN    CONGRESS.  145 

the  policy  of  Mr.  Lincoln  which  had  received  the 
sanction  of  the  Republicans  in  Congress.     Mr.  Hen 
derson  thought  Mr.  Doolittle's  argument  went  to 
show  that  because   a  man  was  for  Mr.   Lincoln's 
policy  in  1863,  he  must  be  for  Mr.  Johnson's  policy 
\  in  1865.     The  same  policy  might  be  correct  in  1863 
rin  time  of  war,  but  not  equally  correct  in  1865. 

Mr.  Davis  sustained  the  President's  action.  Mr. 
Saulsbury  said:  "Argument  is  useless;  reason  is 
thrown  away.  But  sir,  I  rise  to  say  that  in  my 
judgment  the  passage  of  the  bill  is  the  inaugura 
tion  of  revolution — bloodless  as  yet,  but  the  at 
tempt  to  execute  it  by  the  machinery  and  in  the 
mode  provided  in  the  bill,  will  lead  to  revolution  in 
blood."  Mr.  Yates  emphatically  declared  that  "  the 
Union  people  of  this  country  expect  the  Republi 
can  Union  Senators  to  march  forward  in  the  per 
formance  of  their  duty." 

"The  majority,"  said  Mr.  McDougall,  "glory  now 
in  their  giant  power,  but  they  ought  to  understand 
that  it  is  tyrannous  to  exercise  that  power  like  a 
giant.  A  revolution  now  is  moving  onward ;  it  has 
its  center  in  the  North-east.  A  spirit  has  been 
radiating  out  from  there  for  years  past,  as  revolu 
tionary  as  the  spirit  that  went  out  from  Charleston, 
South  Carolina,  and  perhaps  its  consequences  will 
be  equally  fatal,  for  when  that  revolutionary  strug 
gle  comes  it  will  not  be  a  war  between  the  North 
and  its  power  and  the  slaveholdirig  population  of 
the  South ;  it  will  be  among  the  North  men  them- 
10 


146  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

selves,  they  who  have  lived  under  the  shadows  of 
great  oaks  and  seen  the  tall  pine  trees  bend." 

The  Senate  then  proceeded  to  vote  upon  the 
passage  of  the  bill,  the  objections  of  the  President 
to  the  contrary.  Mr.  Morgan's  vote  for  the  passage 
of  the  bill  was  greeted  by  applause  in  the  galleries. 
The  bill  passed. — Yeas  33,  nays  15. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Trumbull  it  was  ordered  "thai 
the  Secretary  communicate  the  bill  to  protect  all 
persons  in  the  United  States  in  their  civil  rights 
and  furnish  the  means  of  their  vindication,  with  the 
message  of  the  President  returning  the  same  to 
the  Senate  with  his  objection,  and  the  proceedings 
of  the  Senate  thereon,  to  the  House  of  Kepresent- 
atives." 

In  the  House  on  the  9th  Mr.  Wilson,  chairman 
of  the  Judiciary  Committee,  called  up  the  veto 
message  which  was  read  and  he  then  moved  the 
previous  question  on  its  passage.  Mr.  Le  Blond 
moved  to  lay  the  bill  on  the  table,  lost. — Yeas  37, 
nays  122.  The  previous  question  was  ordered. — 
Yeas  102,  nays  31,  and  the  bill  was  passed. — Yeas 
122,  nays  41.  Speaker  Colfax  then  said:  "On  the 
question,  '  Shall  this  bill  pass  notwithstanding  the 
objections  of  the  President?'  the  yeas  are  122  and 
the  nays  41.  Two  thirds  of  the  House  having, 
upon  this  reconsideration,  agreed  to  the  passage 
of  the  bill,  and  it  being  certified  officially  that  a 
similar  majority  of  the  Senate,  in  which  the  bill 
originated,  also  agreed  to  its  passage,  I  do  there- 


IN    CONGRESS.  147 

fore,  by  the  authority  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  declare  that  this  bill,  entitled  ' An 
act  to  protect  all  persons  in  the  United  States  in 
their  civil  rights  and  furnish  the  means  of  their 
vindication/  has  become  a  law." 

This  announcement  was  received  with  an  out 
burst  of  applause,  in  which  members  of  the  House, 
as  well  as  the  throng  of  spectators,  heartily  joined, 
and  which  did  not  subside  for  some  moments. 


CHAPTER   V. 

THE  FREEDMEN'S  BUREAU. 

Mr.  Eliot's  resolution  for  appointment  of  Select  Committee. — Mr.  Loon's  reso 
lution.— Mr.  Eliot's  bill.— Mr.  Doolittle's  bill.— Mr.  TrumbulTs  bill.— Mr. 
Howe. — Mr.  Trumbull's  amendment. — Mr.  Cowan's  amendment. — Speech 
of  Mr.  Guthrie. — Mr.  Pomeroy. — Mr.  Creswell. — Mr.  Wilson. — Mr.  Cowan. 
Mr.  Davis'  amendment. — Mr.  Fessenden's  amendment — his  speech. — Mr. 
Creswell. — Mr.  Willey. — Mr.  Davis. — Passage  of  the  bill. — Action  in  the 
House. — Speech  of  Mr.  Eliot. — Mr.  Dawson. — Mr.  Donnelly. — Mr.  Gar- 
field. — Mr.  McKee. — Amendment  disagreed  to. — Mr.  Stevens'  substitute 
rejected. — Substitute  of  Committee  accepted. — Passage  of  the  bill. — 
Senate. — Speeches  of  Mr.  Guthrie — Mr.  Sherman — Mr.  Henderson — Mr. 
Trumbull — Mr.  McDougall. — Mr.  Guthrie's  amendment  rejected. — Con 
currence  of  the  House. — Mr.  Davis'  speech  on  the  veto. — Mr.  Trum 
bull. — Passage  of  the  bill. 

IN  the  House  on  the  6th  of  December,  1865,  Mr. 
Eliot  of  Massachusetts  introduced  a  resolution  which 
was  adopted,  for  the  appointment  of  a  Committee 
of  nine  to  which  should  be  referred  so  much  of  the 
President's  Message,  and  all  papers  that  related  to 
Freedmen.  The  Speaker  appointed  Thomas  D. 
Eliot  of  Massachusetts,  William  D.  Kelley  of  Penn., 
Godlove  S.  Orth  of  Indiana,  John  A.  Bingham  of 
Ohio,  Nelson  Taylor  of  New  York,  Benjamin  F. 
Loan  of  Missouri,  Josiah  B.  Grinnell  of  Iowra,  Hal- 
bert  E.  Paine  of  Wisconsin,  and  Samuel  S.  Marshall 
of  Illinois. 

On  the  18th  Mr.  Loan  of  Missouri  introduced  a 
resolution  "that  the  select  committee  on  Freedmen 
be  instructed  to  inquire  into  the  expediency  of 


IN    CONGRESS.  149 

some  immediate  legislation  securing  to  freedmen 
and  colored  citizens  of  the  States  recently  in  re 
bellion,  the  political  and  civil  rights  of  other  citi 


zens." 


On  the  10th  of  June,  1866,  the  House  on  motion 
of  Mr.  Ward  of  New  York,  adopted  a  resolution 
instructing  the  committee  to  inquire  into  the  alle 
gations  concerning  contracts  forced  upon  Freedmen. 
On  the  8th  Mr.  Eliot  introduced  a  bill,  "  to  establish 
a  Bureau  for  the  relief  of  Freedmen  and  Refugees," 
which  was  referred  to  the  Select  Committee,  and 
on  the  18th  Mr.  Eliot  reported  it  with  amend 
ments. 

In  the  Senate,  on  the  19th  of  December,  Mr. 
Doolittle  introduced  a  bill  relative  to  the  Freed- 
men's  Bureau,  which  was  referred  to  the  Commit 
tee  on  Military  affairs.  On  the  29th  of  January 
Mr.  Wilson  of  Mass,  reported  it,  and  on  his  motion 
it  was  indefinitely  postponed. 

On  the  5th  of  January,  1866,  Mr.  Trumbull  in 
troduced  a  bill  to  enlarge  the  powers  of  the  Freed- 
men's  Bureau:  it  was  referred  to  the  Judiciary 
Committee,  and  reported  on  the  llth  with  amend 
ments.  On  the  12th  the  Senate  proceeded  to  its 
consideration. 

It  provided  that  the  act  to  establish  a  Bureau 
for  the  relief  of  Freedmen  and  Refugees  should 
continue  until  otherwise  provided  for  by  law,  and 
should  extend  to  Freedmen  and  Refugees  in  all 
parts  of  the  United  States.  It  authorized  the  Presi- 


150  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

dent  to  divide  into  districts  the  country  containing 
Freedmen  and  Eefugees ;  these  districts  not  to  ex 
ceed  twelve  in  number  and  each  containing  one  or 
more  States ;  an  assistant  commissioner  to  be  ap 
pointed  for  each  district,  with  the  advice  and  con 
sent  of  the  Senate.  The  Bureau  in  the  discretion 
of  the  President  could  be  placed  under  a  Commis 
sioner  and  assistant  Commissioner,  detailed  from 
the  Army.  The  commissioners  could,  with  the  ap 
proval  of  the  President,  divide  each  district  into 
sub-districts,  not  to  exceed  the  number  of  counties 
in  each  State,  and  assign  an  agent  to  each. 

It  further  provided  that  the  President,  through 
the  War  Department  and  the  Commissioner,  should 
extend  military  jurisdiction  and  protection  over  all 
employees  of  the  Bureau,  and  the  Secretary  of  War 
was  authorized  to  direct  the  issue  of  provisions, 
clothing,  fuel,  medicines  and  transportation,  and  to 
afford  every  aid  he  might  deem  needful  for  the 
temporary  shelter  and  supply  of  the  destitute 
Kefugees  and  Freedmen.  It  also  provided  that  the 
President  could,  for  settlement  in  the  manner  pre 
scribed  by  section  four  of  the  act  to  which  this  was 
an  amendment,  reserve  from  sale  or  settlement, 
under  the  homestead  laws,  public  lands  in  Florida, 
Mississippi,  and  Arkansas,  not  to  exceed  three  mil 
lion  acres,  to  be  determined  as  the  commissioner 
should  prescribe. 

It  proposed  to  make  valid  the  possessory  titles 
granted  in  pursuance  of  General  Sherman's  special 


IN    CONGRESS.  151 

field  order,  Jan.  16th,  1865.  The  Commissioner 
under  the  direction  of  the  President  was  to  be 
empowered  to  purchase  or  rent  such  land  as  should 
be  necessary  for  the  indigent  refugees  and  freed- 
men  dependent  upon  the  Government  for  support ; 
also  to  purchase  sites  and  buildings  for  schools  and 
asylums,  to  be  held  as  United  States  property  until 
otherwise  disposed  of.  It  was  further  made  the 
duty  of  the  President,  through  the  Commissioner, 
to  extend  military  protection  and  jurisdiction  over 
cases  in  any  State  wherein,  in  consequence  of  any 
law,  custom  or  prejudice,  any  civil  rights  and  im 
munities  belonging  to  white  persons  were  denied 
to  others  on  account  of  race  or  color,  or  previous 
condition  of  slavery  or  involuntary  servitude,  ex 
cept  as  a  punishment  for  crime  whereof  the  party 
had  been  duly  convicted ;  which  punishment  should 
not  differ  from  that  prescribed  for  white  persons. 

It  was  further  provided  that  any  person  who 
should  subject  or  cause  to  be  subjected  any  negro., 
freedman  or  refugee,  to  the  deprivation  of  any  civil 
right  enjoyed  by  white  persons,  or  should  subject 
or  cause  to  be  subjected  any  negro,  freedman  or 
refugee  to  any  punishment  different  to  what  it  was 
lawful  to  inflict  upon  white  persons,  should  be 
deemed  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  be  punished 
by  fine  not  exceeding  $1000,  or  imprisonment  not 
exceeding  one  year,  or  by  both.  It  was  further  to 
be  the  duty  of  officers  and  agents  of  the  Bureau 
to  take  jurisdiction  of  offences  committed  against 


152  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

this  provision.  This  jurisdiction  in  no  event  to  be 
exercised  in  any  State  in  which  the  ordinary  course 
of  judicial  proceedings  had  not  been  interrupted  by 
the  rebellion,  nor  in  any  such  State  after  it  should 
have  been  restored  in  all  its  constitutional  relations 
to  the  United  States. 

On  the  18th  the  Senate  resumed  the  considera 
tion  of  the  bill,  and  Mr.  Stewart  of  Nevada  said : 
"We  have' done  something  for  the  negro.  The  Sen 
ator  from  Ohio  says  the  negro  has  saved  us.  Has 
not  the  negro  had  some  sacrifices  made  for  him  ? 
Was  not  his  liberty  a  part  of  the  issue  involved  in 

this  war  ?      Have  not  hundreds  of  thousands  of 

f 

white  men  fallen  to  vindicate  that  issue  ?  Do  not 
the  desolated  homes  and  orphans  and  widows 
throughout  the  North  proclaim  the  sacrifice  that 
has  been  made  for  the  negro  ?  Do  they  not  pro 
claim  a  sacrifice  such  as  no  one  race  ever  made  for 
another  before  ?  What  race,  since  the  foundation 
of  the  earth,  ever  sacrificed  the  money,  the  lives, 
and  the  peace  of  a  great  country  for  the  elevation 
of  another,  as  the  Americans  have  done?" 

Mr.  Howe  said  in  reply  to  Mr.  Stewart,  that  the 
emancipation  proclamation  was  made  to  strengthen 
the  country  not  to  weaken  it.  "It  was  to  save  our 
own  imperiled  lives,  our  own  imperiled  national  ex 
istence,  and  only  for  that  purpose,  that  the  late 
President  of  the  United  States  was  induced  to  issue 
that  proclamation,  and,  as  the  Senator  himself  says, 


UNiVE 

IN    CONGRESS.  153 

^X^-4  LTD  R T'  •  ^"' 

to  make  us  stronger,  not  weaker,  to  make  our  sac 
rifices  less,  not  greater." 

Mr.  Trumbull  moved  to  amend  so  that  it  would 
read,  "That  the  occupants  of  land  under  Major 
General  Sherman's  special  field  order,  are  hereby 
confirmed  in  their  possessions  for  the  period  of  three 
years  from  the  date  of  said  order,  and  no  person 
shall  be  disturbed  in,  or  ousted  from,  said  posses 
sion  during  the  said  three  years,  unless  a  settle 
ment  shall  be  made  with  said  occupant  by  the 
owner  satisfactory  to  the  Commissioner  of  the  Freed- 
men's  Bureau."  Mr.  Trumbull  explained  the  pro 
visions  of  General  Sherman'^  order.  Mr.  Sumner 
thought  three  years  wras  a  small  allowance  of  time 
for  a  general  grant  of  what  is  called  a  possessory 
title  without  any  limitation  of  time.  Mr.  Trumbull 
believed  homesteads  were  of  great  importance, 
but  we  could  not  well  secure  the  fee  to  the  land,  we 
could  only  protect  them  in  possession  a  reasonable 
time. 

On  the  19th  Mr.  Hendricks,  a  member  of  the 
Judiciary  Committee,  said  he  wras  not  able  to  con 
cur  with  the  committee  in  reporting  the  bill.  Mr. 
Trumbull  in  reply  to  Mr.  Hendricks  said :  "  This 
Freedmen's  Bureau  is  not  intended  as  a  perma 
nent  institution.  It  is  only  designed  to  aid 
these  helpless,  ignorant,  and  unprotected  people 
until  they  can  provide  for  and  take  care  of  them 
selves." 

"I  say  as  one  of  the  Representatives  of  Delaware 


154  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

on  this  floor/'  said  Mr.  Saulsbury,  "  that  she  had  the 
proud  and  noble  character  of  being  the  first  to  en 
ter  the  Federal  Union  under  a  Constitution  formed 
by  equals.  She  has  been  the  very  last  to  obey  a 
mandate;  legislative  or  executive,  for  abolishing 
slavery.  She  has  been  -the  last  slaveholding  State, 
thank  God,  in  America,  and  I  am  one  of  the  last 
slaveholders  in  America." 

Mr.  Trumbull  remarked  that  he  did  not  see  what 
Mr.  Saulsbury's  declaration  had  to  do  with  the  ques 
tion  under  discussion,  and  continued,  "His  State 
may  have  been  the  last  to  become  free,  but  I  pre 
sume  that  the  State  of  Delaware,  old  as  she  is,  being 
the  first  to  adopt  the  Constitution,  and  noble  as  she 
is,  will  submit  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  which  declares  that  there  shall  be  no  slavery 
within  its  jurisdiction.  It  is  necessary  to  extend 
the  Freedmen's  Bureau  beyond  the  rebel  States  in 
order  to  take  in  the  State  of  Delaware,  the  loyal 
State  of  Delaware,  I  am  happy  to  say,  which  did 
not  engage  in  this  wicked  rebellion  ;  and  it  is  neces 
sary  to  protect  the  freedmen  in  that  State  as  well 
as  elsewhere ;  and  that  is  the  reason  for  extending 
the  Freedmen's  Bureau  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
rebellious  States."  He  trusted  there  would  be  no 
occasion  for  exercising  the  authority  conferred  by 
the  bill ;  but  that  the  people  of  the  rebel  States 
would  conform  to  the  existing  condition  of  things. 
Mr.  Hendricks,  to  test  the  question  of  the  contin 
uous  character  of  the  measure,  moved  to  strike  out 


IN    CONGRESS.  155 

the  words  "shall  continue  in  force  until  otherwise 
provided  by  law."  Pending  this  amendment  the 
Senate  adjourned. 

On  the  20th  the  consideration  was  resumed,  and 
Mr.  Hendrick's  amendment  rejected.  Mr.  Cowan 
moved  to  amend  so  as  to  confine  its  operations  to 
such  States  "as  have  been  in  rebellion."  He  had 
"no  idea  of  having  this  system  extended  over 
Pennsylvania."  Mr.  Guthrie  would  like  to  know 
the  peculiar  reasons  for  extending  the  bill  to  Ken 
tucky.  "Is  it  because  Kentucky  has  stood  by  the 
Union  during  the  strife,  is  it  because  she  has  been 
desolated  as  she  has  been  in  this  contest,  that  the 
Freedmen's  Bureau  is  to  be  extended  to  her?" 
Mr.  Pomeroy  wished  to  know  if  he  understood 
the  Senator  from  Kentucky  to  say  that  "the  code 
relating  to  slavery  was  made  null  and  void  by  the 
Constitutional  amendment."  "That  is  my  opinion," 
replied  Mr.  Guthrie.  Mr.  Pomeroy  was  gratified  to 
learn  that  that  doctrine  was  held  in  Kentucky.  He 
thought  the  Senator  from  Kentucky  entirely  mis 
understood  the  position  of  Kepublican  Senators. 
"Everything  ought  to  be  required  for  safety,  but 
nothing  for  revenge,  nothing  by  way  of  punish 
ment." 

On  the  22d  the  Senate  resumed  the  considera 
tion  of  the  bill,  the  pending  question  being  on  Mr. 
Cowan's  motion  to  so  amend  it  as  to  operate  only 
in  the  rebel  States.  Mr.  Creswell  said,  "I  sincerely 
hor>e  that  that  amendment  will  not  be  adopted. 


156  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

There  is  assuredly  a  necessity  for  the  operation  of 
this  bill  in  the  State  which  I  in  part  represent  on 
this  floor.  I  have  received  within  the  last  two  or 
three  weeks  letters  from  gentlemen  of  the  highest 
respectability  in  my  State,  asserting  that  combina 
tions  of  returned  rebel  soldiers  have  been  formed 
for  the  express  purpose  of  persecuting,  beating 
most  cruelly,  and  in  some  cases  actually  murdering 
the  returned  colored  soldiers  of  the  Eepublic.  In 
certain  sections  of  my  State  the  civil  law  affords 
110  remedy  at  all.  It  is  impossible  there  to  enforce 
against  these  people  so  violating  the  law,  the  pen 
alties  which  the  law  has  prescribed  for  these  offen 
ces.  It  is,  therefore,  necessary,  in  my  opinion,  that 
this  bill  shall  extend  over  the  State  of  Maryland." 
Mr. Wilson  said,  "It  will  be  remembered  by  Sen 
ators,  that  from  the  time  Mr.  Trumbull,  on  the  22d 
.day  of  July,  1861,  reported  in  favor  of  making 
free  the  slaves  used  by  rebels  for  military  purposes, 
down  to  the  triumphant  passage  through  the  House 
of  Eepresentatives  the  other  day,  of  the  equal 
suffrage  bill  for  the  District  of  Columbia,  timid 
friends  and  opponents  alike  have  indulged  in  pre 
dictions  in  regard  to  the  results  of  our  legislation 
here.  Although  in  all  cases  their  prophetic  utter 
ances  have  been  falsified  by  time  and  the  facts,  and 
though  the  records  of  the  country  will  show  to  all 
coming  time  that  they  were  wrong  and  the  friends 
of  the  series  of  measures  were  right,  that  anti- 
slavery  measures  weakened  the  enemies  and  strength- 


IN   CONGRESS.  157 

ened  the  friends  of  the  country,  that  anti-slavery 
measures  lifted  up  our  Republic  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Christian  and  cizilized  world,  and  brought  down 
upon  it  the  blessings  of  Almighty  God,  they  still 
continue  to  prophesy  and  to  oppose  the  completion 
of  the  great  work  that  will  establish  universal  lib 
erty  in  America." 

Mr.  Cowan  said,  "if  this  Freedmen's  Bureau  is 
to  exist  at  all,  if  it  has  any  color  of  authority  in 
the  world,  it  is  only  that  color  which  it  derives  from 
the  fact  that  we  occupy  a  belligerent  attitude  toward 
the  States  lately  in  rebellion,  and  not  because  we 
have  authority  by  municipal  enactments  to  carry  our 
tribunals  there  and  interfere  in  their  internal  police 
regulations.  The  Senator  from. Massachusetts  says, 
however,  that  we  must  keep  up  with  the  spirit  of 
the  age,  that  it  is  onward,  and  that  there  are  cer 
tain  great  ideas  which  must  be  carried  out,  and 
which  will  be  carried  out,  and  according  to  his  no 
tion  he  and  his  people  are  determined  to  carry  out. 
Well,  sir,  that  is  all  in  the  future.  There  are  a 
great  many  people  who  live  outside  of  the  Com 
monwealth  of  Massachusetts,  and  there  are  a  great 
many  people,  I  think,  who  live  within  that  Com 
monwealth  who  are  not  exactly  prepared  to  indorse 
all  the  revolutionary  measures  which  are  intro 
duced  into  this  Congress,  and  which  are  supposed 
to  have  their  origin  there. 

******** 

The  honorable  Senator  from  Massachusetts  says 


158  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

that  all  men  in  this  country  must  be  equal.  What 
does  he  mean  by  equal  ?  Does  he  mean  that  all 
men  in  this  country  are  to  be  six  feet  high,  and 
that  they  shall  all  weigh  two  hundred  pounds,  and 
that  they  shall  all  have  fair  hair  and  red  cheeks  ? 
Is  that  the  meaning  of  equality  ?  Is  it  that  they 
shall  all  be  equally  rich  and  equally  jovial,  equally 
humorous  and  equally  happy  ?  What  does  it  mean  ? 
Does  he  mean  that  they  shall  all  equally  come  to 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  that  they  shall  all 
equally  sit  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  that 
they  shall  all  equally  hold  office  ?  " 

In  reply  Mr.  Wilson  said  "the  Senator  professes  to 
be  a  friend  of  the  negro,  but  he  has  sturdily  opposed 
anti-slavery  legislation,  and  his  words  are  intended 
to  belittle  a  weak  and  struggling  ra^ce.  If  there 
be  a  man  on  the  floor  of  the  American  Senate  who 
has  tortured  the  Constitution  to  find  power  to  ar 
rest  the  voice  of  a  nation  striving  to  make  free  a 
race,  the  Senator  from  Pennsylvania  is  the  man. 

*^r^^^%** 

It  has  been  this  hesitation,  this  timidity,  this 
quibbling  that  has  been  a  burden  for  us  to  carry  ; 
and  there  are  more  Senators  than  one  upon  this 
floor  who  know  that  we  have  not  only  had  this 
great  cause  of  the  country  and  freedom  to  carry 
through  the  war,  but  we  have  had  to  carry  the 
weakness  of  hesitating,  halting,  and  uncertain  pub 
lic  men.  I  do  not  say  that  we  have  had  to  carry 
the  Senator  from  Pennsylvania,  for  he  did  not  go 


IN    CONGRESS.  159 

at  all;  he  neither  took  himself  nor  let  us  carry 
him  ;  he  was  not  much  of  a  burden  to  us  and  not 
much  of  a  stop  in  our  way  in  the  past,  and  he  will 
not  be  in  the  future.  He  was  not  of  us  ;  he  is  not 
of  us  now,  or  he  would  not  rise  here  and  utter 
these  sneers  about  the  negro's  heel  and  the  negro's 
leg.  The  negro  may  not  have  so  fine  a  leg  as  the 
Senator  from  Pennsylvania,  but  there  are  many 
negroes  who  have  hearts  quite  as  good  as  the  heart 
of  that  Senator  ;  and  I  know  some  of  them  with 
brains  as  capacious  and  as  well  trained  as  his  own. 
Sir,  it  is  time  for  men  who  rally  around  the  stan 
dard  of  the  great  Union  Republican  party  of  the 
country  to  understand  that  this  Christian  people, 
with  their  keen  sensibilities,  their  broad  humanities, 
and  their  ripe  intelligence  —  for  there  is  combined 
in  the  Republican  party  a  degree  of  intelligence 
and  character  never  before  associated  in  any  politi 
cal  organization  —  do  not  want  their  feelings  wound 
ed  by  these  vulgar  sneers  at  a  poor,  oppressed  race, 
which  has  been  kept  down  for  centuries,  wronged 
and  outraed." 


* 


"The  Senator  from  Pennsylvania  asks  me  what 
I  mean  by  the  equality  of  men.  Does  he  not  know 
precisely  what  we  do  mean  ?  Does  he  not  know 
that  we  mean  that  the  poorest  man,  be  he  black  or 
white,  that  treads  the  soil  of  this  continent,  is  as 
much  entitled  to  the  protection  of  the  law  as  the 
richest  and  the  proudest  man  in  the  land  ?  Does 


160  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

lie  not  know  that  we  mean  that  the  poor  man,  whose 
wife  may  be  dressed  in  cheap  calico,  is  as  much 
entitled  to  have  her  protected  by  equal  law  as  is  the 
rich  man  to  have  his  jeweled  bride  protected  by 
the  laws  of  the  land  ?  Does  he  not  know  that  the 
poor  man's  cabin,  though  it  may  be  the  cabin  of  a 
poor  freedman  in  the  depths  of  the  Carolinas,  is  en 
titled  to  the  protection  of  the  same  law  that  pro 
tects  the  palace  of  a  Stewart  or  an  Astor  ? 

He  knows  that  we  have  advocated  the  rights  of 
the  black  man  because  the  black  man  was  the  most 
oppressed  type  of  the  toiling  men  of  this  country. 
The  man  who  is  the  enemy  of  the  black  laboring 
man  is  the  enemy  of  the  white  laboring  man  the 
world  over.  The  same  influences  that  go  to  keep 
down  and  crush  down  the  rights  of  the  poor  black 
man  bear  down  and  oppress  the  poor  white  labor 
ing  man. 

%%%%%%*% 

I  tell  the  Senator  from  Pennsylvania  that  I  know 
we  shall  carry  these  measures.  God  is  not  dead, 
and  we  live,  and  standing  upon  the  eternal  princi 
ples  of  His  justice,  with  a  Christian  nation  behind 
us,  and  with  God's  commands  ever  ringing  in  our 
ears,  we  shall  in  the  future,  as  we  have  in  the  twen 
ty-five  years  of  the  past,  march  straight  forward  to 
battle  and  to  victory  over  all  opposition." 

Mr.  Cowan  said  in  reply,  "I  feel  obliged  to  apologize 
for  being  unable  to  attain  the  sublime  height  of  brag 
ging  from  which  the  honorable  Senator  from  Massa- 


IN   CONGRESS.  161 

chusetts  has  spoken ;  he  asserts  in  face  of  the  Sen 
ate,  and  in  face  of  the  American  people,  that  he  and 
his  compeers  of  the  Anti-Slavery  Society,  have  de 
stroyed  slavery;  that  it  was  the  result  of  their 
twenty-five  years  of  toil  and  struggle.  I  tell  him 
to-day  that  he  and  his  set  were  really — I  do  not 
say  they  intended  it — the  allies  of  the  rebellion ; 
they  were  its  main  support  and  strength ;  and  when 
Jefferson  Davis  comes  to  make  his  dying  confession, 
if  I  should  chance  to  be  at  his  elbow,  I  should  want 
him,  in  that  last  moment,  when  the  truth  comes  to 
be  told,  to  tell  who  it  was  that  gathered  the  whole 
South  to  a  man  around  the  standard  of  rebellion ; 
who  it  was  that  down  there  infused  the  bitterness 
into  that  fight  which  characterized  it  from  end  to 
end ;  who  it  was  that  enabled  that  weak  people  to 
make  such  a  tremenduous  struggle  as  that  the 
world  never  saw  the  like  of  it,  and  I  will  tell  you 
who  he  will  say  it  was.  He  will  tell  you  that  when 
he  started  he  had  not  half  the  people  about  him  ; 
he  will  tell  you  that  the  secessionists  of  the  South 
who  went  into  that  rebellion  were  not  half  of  the 
people.  Who,  then,  drove  the  other  half  to  him  ? 
The  self-same  Anti-Slavery  Society  that,  when  we 
had  the  cannon  roaring  and  the  sabre  clashing  and 
the  bayonet  thrusting,  and  the  work  going  on,  could 
not  keep  its  tongue,  and  must  be  making  the  peo 
ple  of  the  South  believe  that  the  war,  instead  of 
being  for  the  Constitution  and  the  laws,  was  to 
abolish  slavery." 
11 


162  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

"The  Senator  tells  us/'  replied  Mr.  Wilson,  "that 
if  he  were  to  stand  by  Jeff  Davis  in  his  dying  hour, 
Davis  would  whisper  into  his  ear  that  it  was  this 
Anti-Slavery  sentiment,  this  opposition  to  slavery 
here,  that  banded  together  his  men  in  the  South 
and  enabled  him  to  continue  the  contest.  We  have 
heard  that  assertion  often  enough,  and  there  is  not  the 
shadow  of  a  shade  of  truth  or  reason  in  it.  It  has 
served  its  purpose,  and  it  is  quite  time  it  was  aban 
doned.  Every  vote  given  in  this  Senate,  every  act 
passed  by  Congress  that  weakened  slavery  or  eman 
cipated  a  slave,  weakened  the  rebellion  and  strength 
ened  the  country ;  and  history  will  so  pronounce. 
Sir,  you  will  find  that  just  as  the  idea  pervaded  the 
rebel  States  that  Slavery  was  a  lost  institution,  just 
in  that  proportion  they  gave  up  the  hope  of  tri 
umph  and  yielded." 

•1*  *1*  •!•  *t*  *1*  *1*  '      »!•  »»• 

^SjCS^^i^^^jC^ 

"I  insist  upon  it,  the  country  will  insist  upon  it, 
that  we  shall  not  peril  one  single  right  of  the 
poorest  man  that  treads  the  soil  of  the  country. 
This  position  I  shall  maintain ;  for  I  would  rather 
have  the  thanks  of  one  poor  black  boy  away  down 
in  the  depths  of  Carolina,  that  I  may  never  see 
and  never  know,  than  to  receive  the  compliments 
of  the  proudest  man  in  the  land  who  would  take 
away  or  impair  the  rights  of  the  poorest  of  the  sons 
or  daughters  of  toil." 

"I  never  supposed,"  said  Mr.  Guthrie,  "that  the 
majority  of  this  Senate  did  not  mean  to  pass  this 


IN    CONGRESS.  163 

bill  and  the  one  that  is  to  follow  it,  that  have  been 
reported  from  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary,  the 
best  legal  minds  in  the  body.  They  assume  that  it 
is  a  necessity  and  therefore  constitutional  in  their 
view.  But  sir,  I  did  hope  that  Kentucky  would  be 
exempted  from  its  operation ;  that  this  last  cup  of 
bitterness  and  trial  would  not  be  put  to  the  lips  of 
a  State  that  had  suffered  as  much  as  Kentucky  by 
her  loyalty  to  the  Union."  The  question  was  then 
taken  on  Mr.  Cowan's  amendment  and  it  was  re 
jected. — Yeas  11,  nays  33. 

Mr.  Davis  moved  to  amend  the  bill  by  striking 
out  the  words,  "the  President  of  the  United  States 
through  the  War  Department  and  the  Commis 
sioner  shall  extend  military  jurisdiction  over  all 
employees,  agents,  and  officers  of  this  bureau." 
The  amendment  was  opposed  by  Mr.  Trumbull  and 
rejected. — Yeas  8,  nays  31.  On  motion  of  Mr. 
Fessenden  the  bill  was  amended  so  as  simply  to 
authorize  the  extension  of  military  protection  over 
the  employees  of  the  Bureau  while  engaged  in  the 
duties  imposed  by  this  act.  Mr.  Saulsbury  moved 
to  strike  out  the  2d  section  of  the  bill  dividing  the 
States  into  sub -districts,  but  it  was  rejected. 

The  debate  was  opened  on  the  23d  by  Mr.  Sauls- 
bury.  He  predicted  that  the  Democratic  party 
would  soon  be  in  power.  Mr.  Fessenden  said : 
"The  honorable  Senator  who  has  just  spoken,  in 
the  close  of  his  remarks  prophesies  that  if  we 
proceed  in  the  system  of  measures  that  we  have 
decided  upon,  the  Democratic  party  will  very  soon 


164  RECONSTRUCTION    MEASURES 

be  in  possession  of  both  halls  of  Congress.  I  do 
not  know  that  I  should  hesitate  a  great  while 
in  doing  that  which  I  thought  to  be  right  and 
just  even  in  view  of  such  a  calamity.  I  acknowl 
edge  the  force  of  the  prophecy  in  one  sense ; 
and  that  is,  that  when  he  tells  us  such  will  be 
the  result,  I  feel  that  the  innumerable  evils  that 
would  follow  from  it  are  such  as  might  well 
make  us  pause.  If  I  really  believed  that  such  a 
consummation  was  to  come  about  in  any  short  time 
from  any  system  of  measures  we  have  adopted  or 
were  about  to  adopt,  I  should  dread  so  much  the 
evils  that  would  follow,  that  perhaps  I  might  hesi 
tate.  I  do  not  apprehend,  however,  that  that  calam 
ity  is  so  near  at  hand  that  an  apprehension  of  it 
ought  to  influence  my  action  on  measures  that  I 
think  to  be  proper  and  just  in  themselves." 

He  further  declared  that  he  accepted  no  such 
doctrines.  "Whether  you  call  it  the  war  power  or 
some  other  power,  the  power  must  necessarily  ex 
ist,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  somewhere,  and  if 
anywhere,  in  us,  to  provide  for  what  was  one  of  the 
results  of  the  contests  in  which  we  have  been  en 
gaged.  All  the  world  would  cry  shame  upon  us  if 
we  did  not.  *  I  believe  we  should  go 

on,  pass  this  measure  and  the  series  of  measures 
that  we  have  decided  upon,  and  carry  them  into 
execution.  Gentlemen  will  make  an  outcry  about 
their  unconstitutionality ;  they  will  threaten  us 
with  the  growth  of  the  Democratic  party,  and  what 
is  to  come  after.  We  will  try  to  possess  our  souls 


IN    CONGRESS.  165 

in  patience,  and  wait  until  the  calamity  comes,  and, 
when  it  does,  meet  it  with  the  best  grace  we  can." 

Mr.  McDougall  rose,  he  said,  to  reply  to  a  single 
observation  which  caught  his  ear  as  the  Senator 
from  Maine  was  taking  his  seat :  the  last  remark 
when  he  says,  "We  have  settled  these  things;  we 
have  determined  that  we  will  do  this."  He  de 
clared  that  wickeder  or  worse  words  were  never 
said  in  any  high  council  hall  in  the  world,  and  they 
never  should  be  said  in  this  council  hall ;  he  said 
the  office  of  Senator  had  been  degraded,  that  the 
Senator  from  Maine  was  boasting  of  it,  "that  call 
ing  his  clansmen  to  his  heels,  he  with  his  retainers 
can  achieve  a  triumph  against  all  argument,  against 
all  reason,  against  the  best  judgment  of  men  here 
on  the  floor." 

Mr.  Hendricks  replied  to  portions  of  Mr.  Fessen- 
den's  speech.  The  debate  was  further  continued 
by  Mr.  Trumbull  and  Mrt.  Davis.  Mr.  Johnson  said : 
"I  believe — I  speak  it  under  the  correction  of  what 
may  be  the  better  information  of  my  colleague — 
the  negro  is  as  safe  in  Maryland  as  he  is  in  Massa 
chusetts.  There  may  be  occasionally  horrible  out 
rages  perpetrated  upon  him  as  there  are  occasion 
ally  in  Massachusetts  outrages  perpetrated  upon 
white  men  and  white  women ;  but  I  think  they  are 
exceptions  to  the  general  rule." 

Mr.  Creswell  did  not  agree  with  Mr.  Johnson  touch 
ing  the  safety  of  the  black  race  in  Maryland.  "  I 
am  satisfied,"  he  said,  "as  well  as  I  can  be  of  any* 


166  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

thing,  that  unless  the  Government  interposes  by 
such  a  measure  as  this,  these  people  who  have  done 
their  best  to  sustain  it  in  the  hour  of  trial  will  be 
driven  from  our  State,  which  I  should  conceive  to 
be  a  lasting  and  a  burning  shame  to  the  State  in 
which  I  live,  as  well  as  to  the  Government  that  has 
heretofore  profited  by  their  services." 

The  bill  was  farther  considered  on  the  24th,  the 
pending  question  being  to  strike  out  the  5th  sec 
tion  and  insert  Mr.  Trumbull's  amendment  to  secure 
the  freedmen  in  their  possession  of  land  for  the 
period  of  three  years  from  the  date  of  General 
Sherman's  order. 

Mr.  McDougall  spoke  in  opposition  to  the  amend 
ment  and  to  the  general  provisions  of  the  bill.  He 
declared  that  the  bill  proposed  to  create  a  large 
mass  of  new  offices.  *  *  He  said  that 

"the  negro  of  the  South  has  the  same  privilege 
that  I  have  to  go  to  work  #nd  earn  his  living,  to  do 
it  by  his  wit  or  do  it  by  his  hands.  Thousands  of 
wiiite  boys  in  the  North  with  difficulty  get  clothing 
enough  to  warm  them  in  the  hyperborean  regions. 
Many  of  them  have  hardly  sufficient  covering  to 
protect  them  properly  on  their  way  to  the  country 
school;  and  they  have  to  fight  their  way  in  the 
world.  Millions  have  to  fight  and  have  fought  their 
way  in  this  country ;  and  cannot  the  negro  do  it  ? 
Many  people  come  to  our  shores  from  foreign  lands 
with  simply  the  means  to  deliver  themselves  at  our 
ports.  Do  we  take  care  of  them  ?  Not  at  all.  If 


IN   CONGRESS.  167 

the  negro,  being  made  free,  cannot  take  care  of 
himself,  how  long  shall  we  be  his  guardians,  and 
take  more  care  of  him  than  we  do  of  the  poor  boys 
of  our  own  race  and  people." 

Mr.  Davis  declared  it  to  be  a  great  problem 
"whether  there  is  not  national  as  well  as  individual 
insanity.  I  believe  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as 
national  insanity ;  but  when  insanity  seizes  upon  a 
nation  it  is  not  in  the  form  of  general  insanity  ;  it 
is  only  monomania.  I  am  perfectly  satisfied  that 
that  form  of  insanity  has  seized  upon  this  nation, 
that  it  rests  in  the  two  houses  of  Congress,  that  it 
droops  over  the  Senate  with  fatal  mischief  to  the 
nation  and  to  the  people." 

Mr.  Willey  of  West  Virginia  said:  "Whatever 
my  friend  from  Kentucky  may  know  about  the 
habits  of  the  negroes,  I  think  he  is  very  much  mis 
taken  in  regard  to  their  habits  of  idleness.  They 
have  been  idle ;  but  who  would  not  be  idle  if  his 
labor  was  not  to  result  in  his  own  benefit  ?  Who 
would  not  be  idle  if  he  received  no  wages  for  his 
toil  ?  What  race  would  not  be,  comparatively,  in 
the  condition  in  which  the  Senator  has  represented 
the  colored  race,  who  for  long  ages  had  been  held 
in  slavery,  receiving  nothing  for  their  toil  but  a  bare 
pittance  to  live  upon  ?  Give  them  hopes,  give  them  a 
prospect  of  bettering  their  condition  in  the  future , 
adopt  measures  that  will  tend  to  stimulate  industry 
and  to  stimulate  a  hope  of  improvement  in  their 
condition,  and  that  idleness,  to  some  extent  at  least, 


168  RECONSTRUCTION  MEASURES 

will  pass  away.  It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that 
from  the  habits,  education,  and  condition  of  the 
negro,  he  has  hitherto  been  a  dependent  being." 

"I  beg  to  inform  my  honorable  friend,"  replied 
Mr.  Davis,  "that  it  was  the  free  negro  exclusively 
of  whom  I  was  talking  and  whom  I  was  describing. 
The  slave  negro  is  made  to  work,  or  has  been  here 
tofore,  by  his  master. 

#*&##%#£ 

The  vagabond  negroes  that  are  hovering  over 
this  Capitol  like  a  dark  cloud  have  been  allured 
from  labor  to  idleness  by  the  measures  of  Congress. 
It  is  such  measures  as  this  that  seduce  them  from 
labor,  from  throwing  themselves  upon  their  own  re 
sources,  as  the  honorable  Senator  from  West  Vir 
ginia  says  they  ought  to  be  thrown,  and  that  brings 
them  here.  If  you  would  just  introduce  measures 
that  would  start  these  lazy,  indolent  negroes  from 
this  Capitol  out  to  work,  they  could  themselves 
make  enough  to  subsist  all  the  paupers,  and  ten 
times  as  many,  in  this  District  of  Columbia.  This 
is  only  one  rendezvous  of  the  lazy,  indolent  negroes. 
There  are  thousands  of  them  scattered  all  over  the 
whole  of  the  slave  States." 

The  question  was  on  the  amendment  of  the  Sen 
ator  from  Kentucky  to  strike  out  the  sixth  section 
of  the  bill,  as  amended,  upon  which  the  yeas  and 
nays  had  been  ordered.  The  question  being  taken 
by  yeas  and  nays,  resulted — Yeas  10,  nays  32  •  so 
the  amendment  was  rejected. 


IN    CONGRESS.  169 

Mr.  Davis  moved  to  amend  it  so  that  it  should 
only  operate  in  States  in  which  the  laws  could  not 
be  administered,  in  the  civil  courts.  Lost. — Yeas 
10,  nays  36. 

Mr.  McDougall  moved  "That  the  President 
be  empowered  and  directed  to  execute  the  Con 
stitution,  and  laws  enacted  under  the  same,  for 
the  protection  and  benefit  of  freedmen  and  refu 
gees,  and  that  he  may  use  such  of  the  military 
force  of  the  country  for  this  purpose  as  he  may  find 
necessary." 

Mr.  McDougall  then  addressed  the  Senate  in  sup 
port  of  his  amendment ;  he  said,  "  I  know,  for  one,  that 
nothing  but  red  and  white  blood  courses  through  my 
veins.  I  believe  in  the  Pelasgians,  who  drove  the 
Egyptians  out  of  Greece,  and  the  Hyperboreans, 
who  became  the  demigods  of  that  same  country, 
from  whom  Theseus  and  Hercules  are  supposed  to 
have  descended,  white-haired,  great,  godlike  looking 
men.  I  believe  something  in  that  Scandinavian 
race  that  came  from  the  frozen  North,  swept  the 
shores  of  Europe,  and  settled  themselves  on  the 
most  beautiful  islands  of  the  great  sea.  I  believe 
something  in  the  Saxon  and  the  Celt.  But  the 
Numidian,  proud  and  noble  as  he  is  said  to  have 
been,  and  the  Carthaginian,  not  of  northern,  but  of 
high  eastern  blood,  went  down,  and  so  did  India, 
and  so  did  the  East,  and  so  did  Italy,  even  before 
the  northern  barbarians.  There  is  a  law  of  force 
and  there  is  a  law  of  truth.  Who  that  calls  him- 


170  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

self  of  the  old  Norse  ancestry  would  dare  bow  him 
self  before  those  who  come  up  out  of  central  Af 
rica,  and  acknowledge  them  as  having  to  do  with 
government  ?  What,  sir,  they  to  govern  me !  God 
forefend ! 

trtjfcjjjjfc&tfctj::}: 

But  as  a  race  you  can  give  me  no  illustration, 
from  Fred.  Douglass  all  the  way  through  the  cate 
gory,  of  a  single  individual  of  them  who  is  or  wras 
a  grave,  careful,  considerate,  and  high  reasoning  man. 
None  of  them  ever  gave  a  thought  to  philosophy ; 
none  of  them  ever  studied,  beyond  the  mere  matter 
of  management,  anything  about  government ;  none 
of  them  have  achieved  success  in  any  field  where 
belongs  high  intellectuality.  These  are  things  that 
I  affirm  and  dare  affirm,  because  no  part  of  history 
furnishes  any  contradiction  to  what  I  say."  The 
amendment  was  rejected. — Yeas  8,  nays  32. 

On  the  25th  Mr.  Davis  spoke  at  great  length  in 
opposition  to  the  measure  in  principle  and  sub 
stance.  The  debate  was  further  continued  by  Mr. 
Sherman,  Mr.  Trumbull  and  Mr.  Johnson  and  then 
passed.  The  yeas  and  nays  were  ordered,  and  be 
ing  taken,  resulted — Yeas  37,  nays  10. 

In  the  House  the  bill,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Eliot, 
was  referred  to  the  Select  Committee  on  Freedmen, 
of  which  he  was  chairman.  On  the  30th  Mr.  Eliot 
reported  it  with  an  amendment  in  the  nature  of  a 
substitute.  Mr.  Donnelly  moved  to  amend  so  that 
the  Commissioner  might  be  authorized  to  provide 


IN   CONGRESS.  171 

a  common  school  education  for  all  refugees  and 
freedmen  who  should  apply  for  it. 

Mr.  Eliot  then  proceeded  to  address  the  House 
in  favor  of  its  passage.  He  said :  "  On  the  3d  day 
of  last  March  the  bill  establishing  a  Freedmen's 
Bureau  became  a  law.  It  was  novel  legislation, 
without  precedent  in  the  history  of  any  nation, 
rendered  necessary  by  the  rebellion  of  eleven  slave 
States  and  the  consequent  liberation  from  slavery 
of  four  million  persons  whose  unpaid  labor  had  en 
riched  the  lands  and  impoverished  the  hearts  of 
their  relentless  masters.  No  thoughtful  man  could 
have  observed  the  early  successes  of  our  Union 
armies  without  discerning  the -great  work  which 
final  triumph  would  render  needful. 

#         #         -x-         #         *         *         #         # 

At  an  early  day,  when  the  fortunes  of  war  had 
shown  alternate  triumphs  and  defeats  to  loyal  arms, 
and  the  timid  feared  and  the  disloyal  hoped,  it  was 
my  grateful  office  to  introduce  the  first  bill  creating 
a  bureau  of  emancipation.  It  was  during  the 
Thirty-Seventh  Congress.  But  although  the  select 
committee  to  which  the  bill  was  reterred  was  in 
duced  to  agree  that  it  should  be  reported  to  the 
House,  it  so  happened  that  the  distinguished  chair 
man,  Judge  White,  of  Indiana,  did  not  succeed  in 
reporting  it  for  our  action.  At  the  beginning  of 
the  Thirty  Eighth  Congress  it  was  again  presented, 
and  very  soon  wras  reported  back  to  the  House  un 
der  the  title  of  "A  bill  to  establish  a  Bureau  of 


172  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

Freedmen's  Affairs/  It  was  fully  debated  and 
passed  by  the  House.  The  vote  was  sixty-nine  in 
favor  and  sixty-seven  against  the  bill ;  but  of  the 
sixty-seven  who  opposed  it  fifty-six  had  been  count 
ed  against  it,  because  of  their  political  affinities. 
On  the  1st  of  March,  1864,  the  bill  went  to  the 
Senate.  It  came  back  to  the  House  on  the  30th 
of  June,  four  days  before  the  adjournment  of  Con 
gress.  To  my  great  regret  the  Senate  had  passed 
an  amendment  in  the  nature  of  a  substitute  attach 
ing  this  bureau  to  the  Treasury  Department.  But  it 
was  too  late  to  take  action  upon  it  then,  and  the  bill 
was  postponed  until  December.  At  that  time  the 
House  non-concurred  with  the  Senate,  and  a  com 
mittee  of  conference  was  chosen.  The  managers 
of  the  two  Houses  could  not  agree  as  to  whether 
the  War  Department  or  the  Treasury  should  man 
age  the  affairs  of  the  bureau.  They  therefore 
agreed  upon  a  bill  creating  an  independent  depart 
ment  neither  attached  to  the  War  nor  Treasury,  but 
communicating  directly  with  the  President,  and 
resting  for  its  support  upon  the  arm  of  the  War 
Department.  That  bill  was  also  passed  by  the 
House  but  was  defeated  in  the  Senate.  Another 
conference  committee  was  chosen,  and  that  com 
mittee,  whose  chairman  in  the  House  was  the  dis 
tinguished  gentleman  from  Ohio,  then  and  now  at 
the  head  of  the  Military  Committee,  agreed  upon  a 
bill  attaching  the  bureau  to  the  War  Department 


IN   CONGRESS.  173 

and  embracing  refugees  as  well  as  freedmen  in  its 
terms.     That  bill  is  now  the  law." 

On  the  31st  Mr.  Dawson  of  Pennsylvania  spoke  at 
length  against  it ;  he  was  opposed,  he  said,  "to  all  its 
provisions."  He  maintained  that  "  the  Government 
was  made  for  the  white  race,  and  it  is  our  mission 
to  maintain  it.  Negro  suffrage  and  equality  are 
incompatible  with  that  mission.  We  must  make 
our  own  laws  and  shape  our  own  destiny.  Negro 
suffrage  will,  in  its  tendency,  force  down  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  to  the  negro  level,  and  result  inevitably  in 
amalgamation  and  deterioration  of  our  race. 

%  :£  sj:  $:  :«:  #  tfc  ^ 

It  is  impossible  that  two  distinct  races  should 
exist  harmoniously  in  the  same  country,  on  the 
same  footing  of  equality  by  the  law.  The  result 
must  be  a  disgusting  and  deteriorating  admixture 
of  races,  such  as  is  presented  in  the  Spanish  States 
of  America  by  the  crossing  of  the  Castilian  with 
the  Aztec  and  the  negro." 

Mr.  Taylor  of  Tennessee  followed  in  opposition. 
He  thought  it  possible  to  do  too  much  as  well  as 
not  enough ;  by  doing  too  much  the  negro's  de 
pendence  was  prolonged  and  his  idleness  encour 
aged.  He  thought  they  should  have  the  fostering 
care  of  the  Government  through  the  military 
power. 

On  the  1st  of  February  Mr.  Donnelly  of  Minne 
sota  said:  "The  Southern  insurrection  was  but  the 
armed  expression  of  certain  popular  convictions. 


174  RECONSTRUCTION    MEASURES 

which  in  their  turn  arose  from  peculiar  social  con 
ditions.  The  disease  was  radical  and  the  remedy 
must  be  no  less  so.  We  must  lay  the  axe  to  the 
root  of  the  tree.  We  must  legislate  against  the 
cause,  not  the  consequences  ;  otherwise  we  become 
the  mere  repressers  of  disturbances,  not  a  wise  and 
provident  Government;  we  play  the  part  of  the 
executioner,  not  the  law-maker. 

•}f-X--}f-3f#### 

We  must  hold  our  faith.  We  made  great  vows 
to  God  when  the  fury  of  the  tempest  smote  us,  and 
night  and  darkness  seemed  settling  down  upon  our 
frail  bark  forever.  Let  us  not,  like  the  drunken 
sailors  of  the  Mediterranean,  abandon  those  vows 
amid  the  profligacy  of  the  harbor.  It  becomes  a 
great  people  to  hold  its  faith  as  the  most  sacred 
thing  beneath  the  wide  canopy  of  the  heavens." 

Mr.  Garfield  of  Ohio  followed  in  a  speech  of 
power  and  beauty.  He  said :  *  *  *  "These 
capacious  powers  are  in  our  hands.  How  shall  we 
use  them  ?  I  agree  with  my  friend  from  Connecti 
cut  [Mr.  DEMING]  that  we  need  not  apply  the  strictis- 
simum  jus  to  these  conquered  people.  We  should 
do  nothing  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  and  genius 
of  our  institutions.  We  should  do  nothing  for  re 
venge,  but  everything  for  security;  nothing  for 
the  past,  everything  for  the  present  and  the  future. 
Indemnity  for  the  past  we  can  never  obtain.  The 
four  hundred  thousand  graves  in  which  sleep  our 
fathers  and  brothers,  murdered  by  rebellion,  will 


IN    CONGRESS.  175 

keep  their  sacred  trust  till  the  angel  of  the  resur 
rection  bids  the  dead  come  forth.  The  tears,  the 
sorrow,  the  unutterable  anguish  of  broken  hearts 
can  never  be  atoned  for.  We  turn  from  that  sad 
but  glorious  past,  and  demand  such  securities  for 
the  future  as  can  never  be  destroyed. 

And  first,  we  must  recognize  in  all  our  action  the 
stupendous  facts  of  the  war.  In  the  very  crisis  of 
our  fate  God  brought  us  face  to  face  with  the  alarm 
ing  truth  that  we  must  lose  our  own  freedom  or 
grant  it  to  the  slave.  In  the  extremity  of  our  dis 
tress  we  called  upon  the  black  man  to  help  us  save 
the  Republic,  and  amid  the  very  thunder  of  battle,  we 
made  a  covenant  with  him,  sealed  both  with  his  blood 
and  ours,  and  witnessed  by  Jehovah,  that  when  the 
nation  was  redeemed,  he  should  be  free  and  share 
with  us  the  glories  and  blessings  of  freedom.  In 
the  solemn  words  of  the  great  proclamation  of 
emancipation,  we  not  only  declared  the  slaves  for 
ever  free,  but  we  pledged  the  faith  of  the  nation 
'to  maintain  their  freedom/ — mark  the  words,  'to 
maintain  their  freedom!  The  Omniscient  witness 
will  appear  in  judgment  against  us  if  we  do  not 
fulfill  that  covenant.  Have  we  done  it  ?  Have  we 
given  freedom  to  the  black  man  ?  What  is  free 
dom  ?  Is  it  a  mere  negation ;  the  bare  privilege 
of  not  being  chained,  bought  and  sold,  branded  and 
scourged  ?  If  this  be  all,  then  freedom  is  a  bitter 
mockery,  a  cruel  delusion,  and  it  may  well  be  ques 
tioned  whether  slavery  were  not  better." 


176  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

On  the  2d  Mr.  Kerr  of  Indiana  spoke  at  great 
length  in  opposition  to  the  bill  in  all  its  forms. 
On  the  3d  Mr.  Marshall  of  Illinois,  a  member  of 
the  select  committee,  spoke  in  opposition.  He  said : 
"I  deny  at  the  very  outset  that  this  Federal  Gov 
ernment  has  any  authority  to  become  the  common 
almoner  of  the  charities  of  the  people.  I  deny  that 
there  is  any  authority  in  the  Federal  Constitution 
to  authorize  us  to  put  our  hands  into  their  pockets 
and  take  therefrom  a  part  of  their  Via  rd  earnings  in 
order  to  distribute  them  as  chan  [y.  I  deny  that- 
the  Federal  Government  was  established  for  any 
such  purpose,  or  that  there  is  any  authority  or  war 
rant  in  the  Constitution  for  the  measures  which  are 
proposed  in  this  most  extraordinary  bill." 

Mr.  Marshall  was  followed  by  Mr.  Hubbard  of 
Connecticut,  who  said  c.  "I  feel  proud  of  my  coun 
try  when  I  behold  it  stretching  out  its  strong  arm 
of  power  to  protect  the  poor,  the  ignorant,  the 
weak  and  the  oppressed.  I  see  in  it  the  prosecu 
tion  of  a  righteous  purpose  which  cannot  fail  to  se 
cure  the  favor  of  Heaven.  I  see  in  it  that  which 
will  bring  my  country  a  richer  revenue  of  honor 
than  all  the  eloquence  of  her  forums  or  the  glory 
of  her  battle-fields.  I  see  in  it  infallible  evidence 
that  the  nation  is  fast  becoming  what  it  was  in 
tended  to  be  by  the  fathers — the  home  of  liberty 
and  an  asylum  for  the  oppressed  of  all  the  races  and 
nations  of  men." 

Mr.  Moulton  of  Illinois  followed  in  a  legal  ar^a- 


IN   CONGRESS.  177 

ment  for  the  measure,  he  said :  "  The 

very  object  of  the  bill  is  to  break  down  the  dis 
crimination  between  whites  and  blacks.  The  object 
of  the  bill  is  to  provide  where  the  refugees  and 
freedmen  are  discriminated  against,  where  a  State 
says,  as  many  do  in  the  South,  that  the  black  man 
shall  not  make  contracts,  that  the  black  man  shall 
not  enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  labor,  that  he  shall  be 
declared  a  vagabond,  a  vagrant,  and  the  same  laws 
do  not  operate' a  cvainst  the  white  men — that  such 
discrimination  snail  not  exist,  notwithstanding  the 
statutes  of  any  State." 

Mr.  Hitter  of  Kentucky  denounced  the  bill ;  it 
became  necessary,  he  said,  because  we  had  abolish 
ed  slavery  and  for  no  other  reason.  Mr.  Shanklin 
of  Kentucky  followed  in  denunciation  of  the  mea 
sure.  "The  bill  authorizes  the  purchase  of  land 
for  the  erection  of  school-houses  and  other  institu 
tions  necessary  for  the  Freedmen.  If  school-houses 
be  erected,  you  must  have  preachers  or  teachers ; 
and  no  doubt  those  political  preachers  who  have 
covered  the  land  during  the  war  will  be  the  favored 
recipients  of  these  appointments.  You  must  provide 
for  them,  and  they  will  doubtless  be  sent  to  those 
school-houses  to  teach  those  freedmen.  What  will 
they  teach  them  ?  I  suppose  that  in  the  first  place 
they  will  teach  them  to  spell  a  little  and  read  a  lit 
tle  ;  and  then  I  suppose  they  wrill  be  taught  a  little 
of  he  Lord's  will  and  a  great  deal  of  the  wiles  and 
wickedness  of  the  devil." 
12 


178  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

Mr.  Rousseau  of  Kentucky  denounced  the  bill 
and  predicted  that  seven-tenths  of  the  people  would 
come  to  the  support  of  the  President  in  his  policy. 
Mr.  Phelps  of  Maryland  followed  in  opposition  to 
the  measure.  "Is  this  House  willing,"  he  asked, 
"  is  the  country  willing,  to  intrust  such  an  enormous 
and  unlimited  fund  to  the  untrammeled  discretion 
of  any  officers  of  the  Government,  to  be  used  by 
partisans  for  partisan  purposes  ?" 

Mr.  Chanler  of  New  York  objected  to  the  bill  as 
unnecessary  and  unconstitutional.  He  said,  "It 
usurps  powers  fatal  to  representative  government ; 
it  is  partisan  in  its  character;  it  interferes  with 
legitimate  trade ;  checks  and  diverts  immigration 
by  special  legislation  ;  it  strikes  at  State  limits  and 
State  sovereignty ;  it  seeks  to  control  the  relation 
of  labor  and  wages  to  the  injury  of  white  labor 
throughout  the  Union." 

On  the  5th  Mr.  Trimble  of  Kentucky  charged 
the  party  pressing  this  bill  with  "invading  the 
rights  of  the  South,  invading  the  States,  invading 
our  homes  and  our  firesides,  by  officers  unknown  to 
the  Constitution  and  by  authority  unwarranted  by 
the  Constitution."  Mr.  Grinnell  of  Iowa  declared 
that  "interest,  honor  and  humanity,  were  alike  in 
volved  in  carrying  out  the  provisions  of  this  Freed- 
man's  bill." 

Mr.  McKee  of  Kentucky  spoke  eloquently  for 
the  passage  of  the  bill.  He  said :  "They  have  told 
us  this  is  a  bill  to  humiliate  the  South,  to  humiliate 


IX    CONGRESS.  179 

4  that  brave  and  chivalric  people/  and  to  lower  their 
dignity ;  my  own  opinion  is,  that  it  needs  to  be 
brought  down. 

*         #         #         #         #         *         #         * 

Shall  we  say  to  the  sixty  thousand  martyrs — 
victims  to  a  cruelty  more  barbarous,  deep,  damning, 
and  devilish  than  the  world  has  ever  seen,  who 
went  down  to  their  graves  starved  in  rebel  prison 
pens — shall  we  say  to  those  brave  martyrs  and  to 
their  widows  and  little  ones  at  home,  'Your  graves 
are  ruled  over  to-day  by  the  same  men  that  looked 
up  to  heaven  and  thanked  God,  while  they  had  you 
in  their  power,  that  they  had  it  thus  in  hand  to  see 
the  Yankees  die?'  Let  us  say  to  the  widow  and 
orphan  of  the  brave  soldier  who,  with  his  last  dying 
gaze,  as  he  lay  starving  in  those  horrid  dens  of  in 
iquity,  looked  up  to  heaven,  and  his  soul  went  to< 
God  as  he  thought  of  the  loved  ones  at  home,  'The 
brave  man  perished  a  martyr  to  liberty,  and  as  his 
redeemed  spirit  looks  out  through  the  windows  of 
heaven  it  beholds  a  land  redeemed,  disenthralled, 
and  free.' ': 

Mr.  Raymond  of  New  York  had  no  apprehension 
as  to  the  practical  working  of  the  law,  and  he  ad 
ded,  that  the  general  purpose  of  the  bill  seemed  to 
be  of  such  a  nature  that  Congress  had,  in  his  opin 
ion,  no  right  to  refuse  to  take  the  steps  necessary 
to  its  attainment.  The  debate  was  then  closed  by 
Mr.  Eliot. 

On  the  6th  the  bill  was  called  up  by  Mr.  Eliot 


180  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

The  first  question  was  the  motion  of  Mr.  Smith  of 
Kentucky  to  except  his  State  from  its  operation. 
The  amendment  was  disagreed  to. — Yeas  34,  nays 
131.  The  question  was  then  taken  on  Mr.  Stevens' 
substitute,  for  the  substitute  of  the  Committee  on 
Freedmen  and  it  was  rejected. — Yeas  37,  nays  126. 
The  substitute  of  the  Committee  for  the  Senate 
bill  was  then  agreed  to,  and  the  bill  as  amended 
passed. — Yeas  136,  nays  33. 

In  the  Senate  on  the  7th,  on  the  motion  of  Mr. 
Trumbull,  the  House  amendment  was  ordered  to  be 
printed  and  referred  to  the  Judiciary  Committee. 
On  the  8th  it  was  reported  by  Mr.  Trumbull.  "  The 
House,"  he  said,  "has  inserted  words  limiting  the 
operation  of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau  to  those  sec 
tions  of  country  within  which  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus  was  suspended  on  the  1st  day  of  February, 
1866.  As  the  bill  passed  the  Senate,  it  will  be  re 
membered  that  it  extended  to  refugees  and  freed- 
men  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
President  was  authorized  to  divide  the  section  of 
•country  containing  such  refugees  and  freedmen 
into  districts.  The  House  amend  that  so  as  to  au 
thorize  the  President  to  divide  the  section  of  coun- 
:try  within  which  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of 'habeas 
corpus  wras  suspended  on  the  1st  day  of  February, 
1866,  containing  such  refugees  and  freedmen,  into 
districts.  The  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  on  the  1st 
day  of  February  last,  was  suspended  in  the  late  re 
bellious  States,  including  Kentucky,  and  in  none 
other.  The  writ  of  habeas  corpus  was  restored  by 


IN   CONGRESS.  181 

the  President's  proclamation  in  Maryland,  in  Dela 
ware,  and  in  Missouri,  all  of  which  have  been  slave- 
holding  States." 

The  Judiciary  Committee  recommended  a  con 
currence  with  the  House  in  an  amendment  to  strike 
out  the  words  "within  which  the  privilege  of  the 
writ  of  habeas  corpus  was  suspended  on  the  1st 
day  of  February,  1866,"  so  that  the  law  would  ope 
rate  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States.  Mr.  Gruthrie 
earnestly  opposed  the  application  of  the  bill  to 
Kentucky.  "While  you  cry,"  he  said,  "for  justice 
to  the  African,  you  are  not  slow  to  commit  wrong 
and  outrage  on  the  white  race."  Mr.  Sherman 
spoke  in  advocacy  of  the  measure,  and  Mr.  Hen 
derson  declared  that  he  would  not  have  voted  for 
the  bill  if  it  had  not  been  carried  into  Missouri,  and 
if  the  amendment  of  the  House  was  adopted  he 
would  not  vote  for  it.  "I  live  in  a  State,"  said  Mr. 
Henderson,  "that  was  a  slaveholding  State  until 
last  January  a  year  ago.  I  have  been  a  slaveholder 
all  my  life  until  the  day  when  the  ordinance  of 
emancipation  was  passed  in  my  State.  I  advocated 
it,  and  have  advocated  emancipation  for  the  last 
four  years,  at  least  since  this  war  commenced.  Do 
you  want  to  know  how  to  protect  the  freedmen  of 
the  southern  States  ?  This  bill  is  useless  for  that 
purpose.  It  is  not  the  intention  of  the  honorable 
Senators  on  this  floor  from  northern  States  who 
favor  this  bill,  to  send  military  men  to  plunder  the 
good  people  of  Kentucky.  It  is  an  attempt  to  en 
force  this  moral  and,  religious  sentiment  of  the  peo- 


182  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

pie  of  the  northern  States.  Sir,  these  freedmen 
will  be  protected.  The  decree  of  Almighty  God 
has  gone  forth,  as  it  went  forth  in  favor  of  their 
freedom  originally,  that  they  shall  be  endowed  with 
all  the  rights  that  belong  to  other  men.  Will  you 
protect  them  ?  Give  them  the  ballot,  Mr.  Presi 
dent,  and  then  they  are  protected." 

Mr.  Trumbull  said,  "I  do  want  to  say  a  word  to 
the  honorable  Senator  from  Kentucky.  1  wish  we 
could  understand  ourselves  better.  If  I  know  my 
own  heart,  I  am  for  harmony,  I  am  for  peace ;  and 
God  forbid  that  I  should  put  a  degradation  on  the 
people  of  Kentucky.  I  never  thought  of  such  a 
thing.  I  would  sooner  cut  off  my  right  hand  than 
do  such  a  thing.  What  is  it  that  so  excites  and  in 
flames  the  mind  of  the  Senator  from  Kentucky  that 
he  talks  about  the  degradation  that  is  to  be  put 
upon  her,  the  plunder  of  her  people,  the  injustice 
that  is  to  be  done  her  inhabitants  ?  Why,  sir,  a  bill 
to  help  the  people  of  Kentucky  to  take  care  of  the 
destitute  negroes,  made  free  without  any  property 
whatever,  without  the  means  of  support,  left  to 
starve  and  to  die  unless  somebody  cares  for  them ; 
and  we  propose  in  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  to  help  to  do  it.  Is  that  a  degradation  ?  Is 
that  an  injustice  ?  Is  that  the  way  to  rob  a  people  ?" 

Mr.  McDougall  said,  "I  feel  it  my  duty  to  resist 
with  what  little  strength  I  may  possess,  all  this  dis 
position  on  the  part  of  the  North-east,  and  of  those 
who  inherit  North-eastern  opinions,  to  compel  and 


IN   CONGRESS.  183 

conquer  love — a  thing  impossible  and  the  strangest 
paradox  that  could  be  named  in  thought." 

Mr.  Johnson  was  satisfied  that  there  was  no  more 
necessity  for  applying  the  law  to  the  State  of  Mary 
land  than  there  was  to  the  State  of  Maine  or  the 
State  of  Massachusetts. 

The  amendment  of  the  Judiciary  Committee,  ap 
plying  the  bill  to  all  the  States,  was  then  agreed  to. 
Mr.  Guthrie  then  moved  to  amend  the  bill  provid 
ing  that  the  Bureau  should  be  withdrawn  from  any 
State  not  declared  in  rebellion  wherever  the  writ 
of  habeas  corpus  should  be  restored,  but  it  was  re 
jected. — Yeas  8,  nays  25. 

In  the  House  on  the  9th,  Mr.  Eliot  moved  that 
the  House  concur  in  the  amendment  of  the  Senate, 
and  it  was  agreed  to.  In  the  Senate  on  the  19th 
of  February,  the  President's  veto  of  the  Bureau 
Bill  was  received  and  read,  and  the  Senate  ad 
journed. 

On  the  20th  Mr.  Davis  made  a  lengthy  argu 
ment  in  favor  of  the  Veto  Message.  Mr.  Trumbull 
made  an  elaborate  and  able  speech  reviewing  the 
message.  Mr.  Cowan  had  intended  to  reply  to  Mr. 
Trumbull  but  would  not ;  and  Mr.  Willey  an 
nounced  his  intention  to  vote  against  the  bill.  The 
vote  was  then  taken  on  passing  the  bill,  the  ob 
jections  of  the  President  to  the  contrary. — Yeas 
30,  nays  18. 

The  President  of  the  Senate  then  announced 
that  two-thirds  of  the  members  present  not  having 
voted  for  the  bill,  it  was  not  a  law. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

BUREAU  OF  FREEDMEX  AND  REFUGEES. 

Bill  reported  by  Mr.  Eliot. — Mr.  Stevens'  amendment. — Mr.  Davis'  amend 
ment. — Mr.  Shellabarger's  amendment  agreed  to. — Amendments  of  Mr. 
Davis  and  Mr.  Scofield. — Mr.  Shellabarger's  amendment  agreed  to.—  Pas 
sage  of  the  Bill. — Rill  reported  to  the  Senate  by  Mr.  Wilson,  with  amend 
ments. — Mr.  Wilson's  speech. — Amendments. — Debate  by  Mr.  Hen- 
dricks. — Mr.  Trumbull. — Speech  of  Mr.  Fessendcn. — Passage  of  the 
Bill. — Committee  of  Conference. — Conference  report  by  Mr.  Wilson. — 
Report  of  Mr.  Eliot. — President's  veto  message. — Passage  of  the  bill. 

IN  the  House  of  Eepresentatives  on  the  22d  of 
May,  1866,  Mr.  Eliot  of  Massachusetts,  from  the 
select  committee  on  Freednien's  affairs,  reported  a 
bill  to  continue  in  force  and  amend  the  act  for  the 
relief  of  Freedmen  and  Refugees  ;  it  was  read  twice 
and  ordered  to  be  printed.  On  the  23d  the  House 
resumed  the  consideration  of  the  bill,  and  Mr.  Eliot 
explained  its  provisions.  "The  first  section,"  he 
said,  "  continues  the  bureau  for  a  term  of  two  years. 
Gentlemen  will  see  that  that  differs  from  the  bill 
vetoed  by  the  President,  which  was  indefinite  in  its 
duration.  This  continues  the  bureau  for  two  years, 
and  removes  one  objection.  If  it  becomes  neces 
sary  at  the  end  of  that  time  further  to  continue  the 

184 


IN    CONGRESS. 


185 


bureau,  Congress  will  take  whatever  action  may  be 
deemed  proper. 

##***##* 

The  second  section  provides  that  the  care  of  the  bu 
reau  shall  be  extended  to  all  loyal  refugees  and  freed- 
men.  This  is  necessary.  The  law  of  March,  1865, 
was  passed  before  the  amendment  abolishing  slavery. 
It  was  passed  before  any  slaves  were  made  free  ex 
cept  by  military  order  or  military  proclamation. 
There  has  been  no  law  passed  since  the  constitu 
tional  amendment  was  ratified. 

•K-         -x-         -x-         *         *         *         *         * 

The  third  section  simply  confers  upon  the  Presi 
dent  the  power  to  appoint  two  assistant  commis 
sioners  in  addition  to  those  authorized  by  the  act 
of  March,  1865. 

****$#** 

The  fourth  section  of  the  bill  is  rendered  neces 
sary  by  an  inadvertent  omission  in  the  law  of  1865, 
which  provided  no  mode  under  which  the  Secretary 
of  War  could  under  that  law  issue  medical  stores. 
Of  course  it  was  necessary  that  medical  stores 
should  be  issued  where  no  other  means  were  at 
hand  or  possible  to  be  obtained. 

*  -X-  #  *  #-  #•  *  # 

This  section  is  made  necessary  because  of  this 
fact,  that  we  expect  very  shortly  that  the  regular 
medical  force  of  the  Army  will  be  reduced  to  the 
minimum  required  for  the  service  of  the  Army.  As 
soon  as  that  is  done  the  volunteer  surgeons  will  be 


186  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

mustered  out  of  the  service,  and  then  there  will  be 
no  medical  force  which  the  bureau  can  have  the  aid 
of,  because  of  the  fact  that  there  will  be  no  sur 
geons  retained  in  the  regular  Army,  whose  duties 
will  not  be  required  for  the  service. 

*  #         *-         #>**#># 

Section  five  is  the  same  as  was  contained  in  the 
other  law  excepting  that  instead  of  three  millions 
of  the  public  lands  in  the  five  States  of  Florida, 
Mississippi,  Alabama,  Louisiana,  and  Arkansas;  the 
reservation  is  of  one  million  acres. 

*  *         *         #         #         #         #         # 

The  sixth  section,  as  it  is  now  reported,  refers 
to  the  Sherman  lands,  and  is  substantially  altered 
from  the  provision  of  the  previous  law.  It  now 
provides  that  when  the  former  owners  of  those 
lands,  which  are  now  allotted  to  the  freedmen,  and 
which  have  been  occupied,  as  it  is  known,  by  them 
under  licenses  from  the  Government,  shall  apply 
for  a  restoration,  the  Commissioner  shall  procure 
other  lands,  provided  he  can  obtain  them  at  an  av 
erage  price  not  exceeding  twenty-five  dollars  per 
acre ;  that  he  shall  assign  them,  in  lots  of  forty 
acres,  to  the  occupants  of  lands  under  General  Sher 
man's  order,  requiring  them  to  pay  a  fair  rental  for 
the  lands  and  permit  them  to  purchase,  provided 
they  will  pay  to  the  Government  the  full  cost  which 
the  Government  has  incurred  for  the  lands. 

£&#£#*&:£ 

The  seventh  section  very  materially  changes  the 


IN   CONGRESS.  187 

former  law  which  authorized  the  purchase  of  sites, 
and  the  erection  of  buildings  for  schools,  and  the 
carrying  on  of  those  schools ;  and  it  was  made  a 
subject  of  comment  that  the  United  States  ought 
not  to  educate. 

**^^^^%* 

The  eighth  section  simply  embodies  the  provi 
sions  of  the  civil  rights  bill,  and  gives  to  the  Presi 
dent  authority,  through  the  Secretary  of  War,  to 
extend  military  protection  to  secure  those  rights 
until  the  civil  courts  are  in  operation. 

#•          #          *          *          %          *          * 

The  last  section  simply  provides  that  the  officers 
and  employees  of  the  bureau,  before  entering  upon 
the  discharge  of  their  duties,  shall  take  the  oath 
prescribed  by  the  first  section  of  the  act  to  which 
this  is  an  amendment." 

Mr.  Eliot  said  the  bill  if  passed  would  be  imper 
fect  without  the  power  of  the  Executive,  and  he 
invoked  the  President  to  uphold  it  with  his  moral 
power. 

Mr.  Le  Blond  of  Ohio  said,  "  Gentlemen  may  ap 
peal  to  the  passions  and  prejudices  of  the  people, 
and  urge  that  this  system  should  be  continued  as  a 
punishment  to  be  inflicted  upon  the  southern  peo 
ple.  But  let  me  say  to  gentlemen  that  the  period 
has  gone  by  when  the  American  people,  taxed  as 
they  are  almost  to  death  for  the  purpose  of  sup 
porting  this  Government,  and  are  going  to  contribute 
longer  to  the  maintenance  of  this  class  of  persons 


188  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

for  the  sole  purpose  of  inflicting  a  punishment  upon 
the  southern  people,  who  wrongfully  undertook  to 
destroy  this  Government." 

The  consideration  of  the  bill  was  resumed  on  the 
24th,  and  Mr.  Stevens  moved  to  amend  it  so  as  to 
declare  that  the  Commissioner  "  shall  refuse  to  sur 
render  the  land  "  allotted  to  Freedmen  under  Gen 
eral  Sherman's  order.  The  amendment  was  agreed 
to. — Yeas  79,  nays  46.  Mr.  Davis  of  New  York 
moved  to  strike  out  all  after  the  second  section. 
Mr.  Scoiield  of  Pennsylvania  moved  to  strike  out 
so  much  of  the  bill  as  authorized  the  building  of 
school-houses,  and  Mr.  Shellabarger  moved  that 
nothing  in  the  bill  diould  be  construed  to  affect  the 
right  of  any  person  to  recover  in  any  proper  court 
any  title  which  such  person  might  have  to  any  lands 
held  under  General  Sherman's  field  order.  Mr. 
Brandegee  could  not  see  the  necessity  or  policy  of 
passing  the  bill,  and  moved  to  postpone  it  until  the 
2d  Monday  in  December.  Lost. — Yeas  51,  nays  81. 
The  bill  and  amendments  were  ordered  to  be  print 
ed.  On  the  29th  the  house  resumed  the  consider 
ation  of  the  bill,  and  the  previous  question  on  the 
motion  of  Mr.  Eliot  was  ordered.  Mr.  Chanler  of 
New  York  moved  to  lay  it  on  the  table.  Mr.  Sco- 
field  modified  his  amendment  so  as  to  authorize  the 
Commissioner  of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau  to  hire 
buildings  for  school-houses,  and  the  amendment  was 
adopted.  Mr.  Shellabarger's  amendment  was  agreed 
to  and  Mr.  Davis'  amendment  rejected.  Mr.  El- 


IN    CONGRESS. 


189 


dridge  of  Wisconsin  demanded  the  yeas  and  nays 
on  the  passage  of  the  bill ;  they  were  ordered,  and 
it  was  passed. — Yeas  96,  nays  32. 

In  the  Senate  on  the  llth  of  June,  Mr.  Wilson 
reported  from  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs, 
the  bill  with  amendments.  On  the  26th  the  Sen 
ate,  011  motion  of  Mr.  Wilson,  proceeded  to  consider 
the  bill  and  amendments. 

The  committee  reported  several  amendments; 
the  first  was  to  insert  after  section  three,  as  section 
four:  "That  officers  of  the  Veteran  Reserve  Corps 
or  of  the  Volunteer  service,  now  on  duty  in  the 
Freedmen's  Bureau  as  assistant  commissioners, 
agents,  medical  officers  or  in  other  capacities,  whose 
regiments  or  corps  have  been,  or  may  hereafter  be 
mustered  out  of  service,  may  be  retained  upon  such 
duty;"  and  the  amendment  was  agreed  to.  Mr. 
Davis  moved  to  postpone  the  bill  to  the  1st  Mon 
day  of  December,  but  it  was  rejected.  The  fifth 
section  allotting  one  million  acres  of  land  in  Florida, 
Mississippi,  Alabama,  Louisiana,  and  Arkansas  in 
forty  acre  lots  to  Freedmen,  was  stricken  out,  the 
public  lands  in  those  States  having  been  opened  to 
settlers,  without  distinction  of  color.  Mr.  Davis 
moved  to  lay  the  bill  on  the  table  but  it  was  re 
jected. 

The  next  amendment  of  the  Military  Committee 
was  to  strike  out  the  sixth  section,  directing  the 
Commissioners  to  refuse  to  surrender  the  lands  held 
under  Sherman's  field  order,  and  insert  seven  new 


190  RECONSTRUCTION    MEASURES 

sections.  Mr.  Wilson  explained  the  amendment 
reported  by  his  committee ;  he  said  :  "  there  are 
between  twenty-five  and  thirty  thousand  acres  that 
have  been  taken  up  by  the  freedmen  in  accordance 
with  the  provisions  of  General  Sherman's  field  or 
der.  General  Steadman  and  General  Fullerton  have 
recommended  to  the  President  that  they  be  given 
up  to  the  owners  by  the  1st  of  January  next.  Some 
nine  hundred  persons  have  acquired  titles  to  small 
portions  of  those  lands.  We  propose  to  give  up 
those  lands  in  this  manner :  we  have  acquired  about 
forty  thousand  acres  of  land  by  tax  sales  on  the 
islands  in  South  Carolina  ;  those  are  in  possession 
of  the  Government ;  now,  we  propose  that  in  lieu 
of  the  claims  acquired  under  General  Sherman's 
order,  those  lands  shall  be  divided  up  into  twenty- 
acre  lots  and  shall  be  sold  to  the  persons  who  have 
those  titles  at  their  cost  to  the  Government.  They 
are  to  go  on  the  lands  and  have  six  years  within 
which  to  pay  for  them.  They  cost  the  Govern 
ment  about  one  dollar  and  a  half  an  acre.  These 
lands  on  the  islands  are  our  lands ;  they  are  in  our 
possession ;  they  amount  to  about  the  same  number 
of  acres  that  have  been  acquired  by  these  colored 
persons  under  General  Sherman's  field  order.  It  is 
now  proposed  that  they  shall  have  these  lands  set 
apart  to  them,  wrhich  shall  not  for  six  years  be  alien 
ated  by  them,  and  they  shall  pay  the  Government 
a  small  pittance  of  a  dollar  and  a  half  an  acre, 
which  wras  the  cost  to  the  Government. 


IN    CONGRESS.  191 

Then  we  have  six  thousand  acres,  some  thirty- 
three  tracts,  said  to  be  worth  ten  dollars  per  acre, 
that  we  authorize  the  selling  of  at  ten  dollars  per 
acre,  and  that  are  not  to  be  sold  for  less,  which 
have  been  set  apart  by  the  commissioners,  and  are 
now  used  and  rented  for  the  purposes  of  a  school 
fund.  We  propose  to  have  those  lands  sold,  and 
that  the  proceeds  shall  be  a  fund  for  the  benefit  of 
the  persons  residing  upon  those  islands  for  school 
purposes. 

If  this  amendment  shall  be  adopted,  we  shall  pro 
vide  for  the  restoration  of  the  lands  set  apart  by 
General  Sherman,  and  we  shall  allow  persons  who 
have  acquired  mere  possessory  titles  under  his  or 
der  to  acquire  titles  to  the  land  we  possess.  It  is  be 
lieved  by  those  who  understand  the  condition  of 
affairs  there,  to  be  an  arrangement  that  will  be 
satisfactory  to  all.  We  provide  further  that  if  any 
betterments  or  improvements  have  been  made  on 
those  lands,  these  persons,  before  being  removed 
from  the  lands,  shall  have  the  benefit  of  them,  and 
also  the  benefit  of  the  present  crop,  which  they 
planted  and  which  they  are  to  gather." 

Several  amendments  were  moved  and  the  debate 
was  continued  by  Mr.  Hendricks,  Mr.  Trumbull  and 
Mr.  Wilson.  Mr.  Buckalew  proposed  to  continue 
the  Bureau  one  year  instead  of  two  years. — Yeas 
6,  nays  26.  It  was  then  moved  by  Mr.  Buckalew 
to  strike  out  so  much  of  the  amendment  as  pro 
vided  for  the  continuance  of  the  Bureau,  until  the 


192  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

courts  sliould  be  in  uninterrupted  operation,  but  it 
was  rejected.  Mr.  Hendricks  moved  to  strike  out 
the  14th  section,  providing  for  military  protection 
and  for  the  enforcement  of  civil  rights,  but  it  was 
rejected. 

Mr.  Fessenden  said,  "this  is  a  pretty  extensive 
power  provided  for  in  this  bill.  The  exercise  of  it 
is  very  large.  As  the  Senator  from  Indiana  ob 
served,  the  number  seems  to  be  unlimited  and  the 
pay  not  fixed.  Ordinarily,  I  should  be  very  much 
averse  to  granting  such  a  power ;  but  inasmuch  as 
two  very  distinguished  Senators  who  have  care 
fully  examined  the  subject — the  honorable  Senator 
from  Massachusetts  and  the  honorable  Senator  from 
Illinois — and  the  committee  of  which  the  honor 
able  Senator  from  Massachusetts  is  chairman,  who 
have  thoroughly  examined  the  subject,  have  come 
to  the  conclusion,  and  tell  us  as  the  result  of  their 
examination,  from  their  acquaintance  with  the  sub 
ject  and  their  familiarity  with  it,  that  they  are 
satisfied  there  is  an  absolute  necessity  for  the  pur 
poses  of  the  Government  that  it  should  be  granted, 
and  as  I  have  not  examined  the  question,  and  can 
not  pretend  to  be  able  to  correct  them,  I  shall  yield 
my  opinions  to  theirs,  according  to  my  usual 
custom." 

Mr.  Hendricks  thought  it  a  very  objectionable 
measure,  but  as  no  argument  he  could  make  would 
influence  its  fate,  he  would  not  occupy  the  time  of 
the  Senate.  The  bill  was  then  passed  without  a 
division. 


IN    CONGRESS.  193 

On  the  28th  the  House,  on  the  motion  of  Mr. 
Eliot,  non-concurred  and  asked  a  Committee  of  Con 
ference  ;  and  Mr.  Eliot  of  Massachusetts,  Mr.  Bing- 
ham  of  Ohio,  and  Mr.  McCullough  of  Maryland,  were 
appointed  managers.  The  Senate  on  the  30th  con 
curred,  and  Mr.  "Wilson,  Mr.  Harris  and  Mr.  Nes- 
mith  were  appointed  managers. 

In  the  Senate  on  the  2d  of  July,  Mr.  Wilson  from 
the  Conference  Committee  made  a  report.  In  re 
sponse  to  an  inquiry  from  Mr.  Hendricks,  Mr.  Wil 
son  said  that  the  provision  authorizing  the  Presi 
dent  to  restore  the  lands  taken  under  Sherman's 
order  had  been  stricken  out,  and  the  responsibility 
of  the  change  put  upon  the  President.  He  could 
do  it  at  any  time  after  the  crops  were  gathered. 
There  was  nothing  changed  at  all  in  the  sense  of 
the  bill.  "There  was  really  no  substantial  differ 
ence  of  opinion  between  the  two  Houses  on  these 
matters,  and  the  bill  was  referred  to  a  committee 
of  conference  more  for  the  purpose  of  changing 
some  modes  of  expression  than  for  any  other." 
The  Eeport  of  the  Conference  Committee  was  then 
concurred  in. 

In  the  House  on  the  3d  of  July,  Mr.  Eliot  from 
the  Conference  Committee  made  a  report,  and  ex 
plained  its  terms.  Mr.  Le  Blond  of  Ohio  wished  to 
have  the  report  printed  so  that  it  might  be  under 
stood.  "We  understand  this  much,  and  this  alone, 
that  there  is  '  nigger'  in  its  head, '  nigger'  in  its  bow 
els,  and '  nigger '  in  its  heels.  I  suppose  that  it  is '  nig- 
13 


194  '    RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

ger'  all  through;  but  whatever  may  be  its  charac 
ter  we  would  like  to  understand  it."  Mr.  Finck  of 
Ohio  moved  that  the  report  be  laid  upon  the  table. 
Yeas  25,  nays  102;  and  the  report  was  then  agreed  to. 

On  the  16th  of  July  the  House  received  the 
message  of  the  President  giving  his  reasons  for  not 
signing  the  bill.  It  was  read  and  the  House  passed 
the  bill,  104  to  33,  the  objections  of  the  President 
to  the  contrary. 

In  the  Senate  the  veto  message  was  received  on 
the  same  day,  and  on  motion  of  Mr.  Wilson  all  mat 
ters  were  postponed  that  it  might  be  read.  After 
the  reading  of  the  message  Mr.  Johnson  moved  to 
postpone  its  further  consideration  until  the  next 
day. — Yeas  13,  nays  31.  Mr.  Hendricks  sustained 
the  veto.  "I  believe,"  he  said,  "that  the  country 
will  sustain  the  President  in  his  veto.  He  has 
sought  that  these  people  now  made  free  shall  be 
governed  by  the  laws  and  the  Constitution  of  the 
land.  He  has  resisted  to  the  extent  of  his  consti 
tutional  power  the  establishment  over  them  and  the 
white  people  among  whom  they  are  found,  of  a  sys 
tem  of  government  unknown  to  the  Constitution 
and  to  our  institutions.  He  has  done  his  duty,  and 
I  believe,  sir,  that  the  country  will  sustain  him." 

The  question  was  then  taken  and  the  bill  passed 
over  the  veto. — Yeas  33,  nays  12.  The  President 
of  the  Senate  declared  that  two-thirds  of  both 
Houses  having  voted  for  the  bill,  the  objections  of 
the  President  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding,  the 
bill  had  become  a  law. 


CHAP 


REBEL  DEBT—  CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENT. 

Resolution  of  Mr.  Farnsworth  reported  by  Mr.  Wilson  with  amendments. 
Amendment  agreed  to.  —  Debated  by  Mr.  Wilson,  Mr.  Rogers,  Mr.  Farns- 
worth,  Mr.  Rousseau,  Mr.  Johnson,  Mr.  Higby,  Mr.  Sloan,  Mr.  Niblack 
and  Mr.  Randall.  —  Resolution  passed.  —  Resolution  by  Mr.  Sumner.  — 
Resolution  by  Mr.  Wilson.  —  Speech  by  Mr.  Wilson. 

IN  the  House  of  Representatives  on  the  6th  of 
December,  1865,  Mr.  Farnsworth  of  Illinois  intro 
duced  a  resolution  to  amend  the  Constitution  so 
that  no  tax,  duty  or  impost  should  be  laid,  nor  appro 
priation  of  money  be  made  by  the  United  States  or 
any  one  of  the  States,  for  the  purpose  of  paying 
any  debt  incurred  in  aiding  the  rebellion  against 
the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States. 
The  resolution  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on 
the  Judiciary,  and  on  the  19th  Mr.  Wilson  of  Iowa, 
chairman  of  the  committee,  reported  it  with  an 
amendment.  The  House  proceeded  to  the  consider 
ation  of  the  resolution,  and  the  amendment  of  the 
Judiciary  Committee  was  agreed  to.  The  question 
recurring  on  the  passage  of  the  Joint  Resolution, 
Mr.  Wilson  of  Iowa  said  that  the  proposition  was  so 
generally  concurred  in,  that  it  was  not  necessary  to 
occupy  the  time  of  the  House  in  discussing  it  j  he 

195 


196  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

therefore  moved  the  previous  question.  Mr.  Rogers 
of  New  Jersey,  a  member  of  the  Judiciary  Com 
mittee;  maintained  that  three-fourths  of  the  States 
had  no  right,  by  an  amendment  to  the  constitution, 
to  dictate  to  the  States  what  debts  they  should  pay. 
Mr.  Farnsworth  asked  Mr.  Rogers  if  he  held  that  the 
Constitution  intended  to  give  a  State  the  right  to 
tax  its  loyal  people  to  pay  debts  incurred  in  rebel 
lion  against  the  United  States.  Mr.  Rogers  replied 
that  the  people,  through  their  legislature,  had  the 
right  to  tax  themselves  to  pay  any  debt,  whether 
that  debt  was  contracted  in  a  righteous  or  an  un 
righteous,  a  just  or  an  unjust  cause.  Mr.  Rousseau 
of  Kentucky  asked  Mr.  Rogers  if  it  was  one  of  the 
reserved  rights  of  the  States  to  break  up  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States.  Mr.  Rogers  said  it 
was  the  right  of  a  State  to  pay  its  own  debts,  in  its 
own  manner,  and  at  its  own  time,  and  three-fourths 
of  the  States  had  no  right  to  say,  by  an  amend 
ment  to  the  Constitution,  that  the  other  fourth 
should  not  pay  any  debt  they  might  see  fit  to  pay. 
Mr.  Wilson  of  Iowa  said  that  if  any  portion  of  the 
people  of  New  Jersey  desired  to  remove  to  any  of 
the  rebel  States,  he  desired  that  they  should  not  be 
liable  to  pay  any  debts  incurred  for  the  destruction 
of  the  government.  He  was  desirous  of  protecting 
the  government  against  the  corrupting  influences 
of  the  immense  amount  of  money  involved  in  the 
rebel  debt.  Mr.  Hale  of  New  York  thought  the 
resolution  was  not  broad  enough,  that  it  ought 


IN   CONGRESS.  197 

to  prevent  the  assumption  of  any  rebel  debt  con 
tracted  in  the  past  or  in  the  future.  Mr.  Wilson 
thought  the  resolution  broad  enough  to  cover  the 
object  stated  by  the  member  from  New  York. 
Mr.  Bingham  of  Ohio  suggested  that  the  resolution 
should  be  amended  by  adding  the  words,  "nor  shall 
the  United  States  or  any  State  of  the  Union  ever 
assume  or  pay  any  part  of  such  debt  or  liabilities." 
Mr.  Wilson  thought  the  resolution  in  its  present 
form  broader  than  it  would  be  if  amended  as  sug 
gested  by  the  gentleman  from  Ohio.  Mr.  Johnson 
of  Pennsylvania  objected  to  the  immediate  passage 
of  the  resolution,  and  entered  his  protest  against 
hasty  legislation.  Mr.  Higby  of  California  and  Mr. 
Ingersoll  of  Illinois,  Mr.  Sloan.  Mr.  Niblack  and 
Mr.  Rogers  demanded  further  time  for  the  consider 
ation  of  the  resolution.  Mr.  Wilson  expressed  his 
willingness  to  have  the  question  go  over  till  the 
next  day  and  be  made  a  special  order.  Mr.  Ran 
dall  of  Pennsylvania  objecting  to  make  it  a  special 
order  for  the  next  day,  Mr.  Wilson  withdrew  the 
proposition  and  insisted  upon  his  demand  for  the 
previous  question.  The  previous  question  was  or 
dered  and  the  resolution  passed. — Yeas  150,  nays  11. 
In  the  Senate  on  the  5th  of  January,  1866,  Mr. 
Simmer  of  Massachusetts  introduced  a  joint  reso 
lution  proposing  an  amendment  to  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States,  for  the  protection  of  the 
national  debt  and  the  rejection  of  the  rebel  debt. 
The  resolution  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on 


198  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

the  Judiciary,  and  on  the  20th  of  June  Mr.  Trum- 
bull  reported  it  back  with  the  recommendation 
that  it  be  indefinitely  postponed,  and  it  was  so  post 
poned. 

On  the  24th  of  January  Mr.  Wilson  of  Massachu 
setts  introduced  a  resolution,  proposing  to  amend 
the  Constitution  so  that  no  payment  should  ever  be 
made  by  the  United  States  or  any  State,  for  or  on 
account  of  the  emancipation  of  any  slave  or  slaves, 
or  for  or  on  account  of  any  debt  contracted  or  in 
curred  in  aid  of  rebellion  against  the  national  Gov 
ernment. 

Mr.  Wilson  said  in  support  of  the  resolution, 
which  he  proposed  to  refer  to  the  committee  on  re 
construction,  that  utterances  in  Louisiana,  Georgia 
and  other  rebel  States  gave  warning  that  rebel 
slave  masters  hoped  to  be  compensated  by  the  na 
tional  authority  for  slaves  emancipated.  "  To  main 
tain,"  he  said,  ''the  unity  of  the  .Republic,  and  pre 
serve  the  menaced  life  of  the  nation,  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  summoned  more  than 
two  million  men  to  the  field,  organized  vast  armies, 
created  naval  squadrons  for  the  blockading  of  south 
ern  ports,  and  carried  on  for  more  than  four  years 
a  war  of  gigantic  proportions.  To  support  those 
vast  armies,  to  create  these  great  naval  squadrons 
that  hovered  along  the  southern  coast  from  the 
Potomac  to  the  Rio  Grande,  the  Government  was 
compelled  to  call  upon  the  loyal  people  for  nearly 
three  thousand  million  dollars.  That  people,  ani- 


IN   CONGRESS.  199 

mated  with  the  same  lofty  and  self-sacrificing  pat 
riotism  that  carried  their  sons  to  battle-fields,  at 
this  call  of  their  country  loaned  these  millions  to 
feed,  to  clothe,  to  arm,  to  pay  the  soldiers  of  the 
Republic,  and  to  pension  the  widows  and  orphan 
children  of  heroes  fallen  in  battle  for  the  existence 
of  the  Republic.  With  the  same  holy  zeal  that 
filled  the  ranks  of  our  war-wasted  battallions,  that 
contributed  seventy-five  millions  in  charities  to  the 
sick  and  wounded  defenders  of  their  country,  the 
loyal  people — bankers,  merchants,  farmers,  mechan 
ics,  laborers,  all  conditions  of  men,  and  women,  too 
— in  the  dark  and  trying  days  of  the  rebellion,  when 
men  of  little  faith  doubted  the  result  of  the  struo*- 

o 

gle  for  national  existence,  and  rebel  sympathizers 
and  rebel  apologists  prophesied  disaster  and  na 
tional  bankruptcy,  trusted  their  interests  and  for 
tunes  to  the  faith  of  their  endangered  country. 
These  millions  of  the  loyal  people,  loaned  upon  the 
plighted  faith  of  the  periled  nation,  the  money  that 
created  the  armies  and  navies  that  lined  the  coasts, 
and  swept  the  fields  of  rebellion  till  the  slave-mas 
ters'  confederacy  crumbled  into  dishonored  frag 
ments.  This  national  debt,  created  by  the  Govern 
ment  for  the  preservation  of  the  national  life,  is  as 
sacred  as  the  blood  of  our  heroes  poured  out  on  bat 
tle-fields.  This  national  debt  is  the  price  of  national 
existence.  Faith,  honor,  interest,  all  alike  demand 
that  it  shall  be  guarded  as  we  guard  and  cherish 
the  scarred  heroes  and  the  widows  and  orphans  of 
the  nation's  dead." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

EIGHTS  OF  CITIZENS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Resolution  reported  by  Mr.  Bingham  to  amend  Constitution. — Speech  of  Mr. 
Bingham,  Mr.  Rogers,  Mr.  Higby,  Mr.  Randall,  Mr.  Kelley,  Mr.  Hale, 
Mr.  Davis,  Mr.  Woodbridge. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Conkling — Mr.  Hotch- 
kiss. — Mr.  Conkling's  motion  to  postpone.— Mr.  Eldredge's  motion. — Con 
sideration  postponed. 

IN  the  House  of  Representatives,  February  13th, 
1866,  Mr.  Bingham  of  Ohio  reported  from  the  Com 
mittee  on  Reconstruction  a  joint  resolution  to 
amend  the  Constitution,  which  was  read  twice  and 
recommitted  to  the  committee.  On  the  26th  Mr. 
Bingham  reported  back  the  resolution,  which  pro 
vided  that  Congress  should  have  power  to  make  all 
laws  necessary  and  proper  to  secure  to  the  citizens 
of  each  State  all  privileges  and  immunities  of  citi 
zens  in  the  several  States,  and  to  all  persons  equal 
protection  in  the  rights  of  life,  liberty,  and  prop 
erty.  Mr.  Bingham  said  that  the  amendment  pro 
posed,  stood  in  the  very  words  of  the  Constitution 
as  it  came  from  the  hands  of  its  illustrious  framers. 
Every  word  of  the  amendment  was  in  the  Consti 
tution,  save  the  words  conferring  the  express  grant 
of  power  upon  Congress.  Mr.  Bingham  said  fur 
ther  that  it  was  "equally  clear  by  every  construc 
tion  of  the  Constitution,  its  contemporaneous  con- 

200 


IN    CONGRESS.  201 

struction,  its  continued  construction,  legislative,  ex 
ecutive,  and  judicial,  that  these  great  provisions  of 
the  Constitution,  this  immortal  bill  of  rights  em 
bodied  in  the  Constitution,  rested  for  its  execution 
and  enforcement  hitherto  upon  the  fidelity  of  the 
States.  The  House  knows,  sir,  the  country  knows, 
the  civilized  world  knows,  that  the  legislative,  exe 
cutive,  and  judicial  offices  of  eleven  States  within 
this  Union  within  the  last  five  years,  in  utter  disre 
gard  of  these  injunctions  of  your  Constitution,  in 
utter  disregard  of  that  official  oath  which  the  Con 
stitution  required  they  should  severally  take  and 
faithfully  keep  when  they  entered  upon  the  dis 
charge  of  their  respective  duties,  have  violated  in 
every  sense  of  the  word  these  provisions  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  the  enforcement 
of  which  are  absolutely  essential  to  American  na 
tionality." 

Mr.  Rogers  of  New  Jersey,  a  member  of  the  com 
mittee  on  the  judiciary,  opposed  the  amendment. 
"I  am  for  the  Union,"  he  said, "  the  indivisible  Union, 
the  Union  of  our  fathers,  the  Union  made  by  Wash 
ington,  by  Jay,  and  by  Jefferson ;  the  Union  that 
has  given  to  us  peace,  happiness,  greatness,  grand 
eur,  and  glory  such  as  never  belonged  to  any  other 
nation  since  the  foundation  of  the  civilized  world. 
I  do  not  want  such  a  Union  as  the  radicals  of  this 
country  are  trying  to  set  up  for  me.  Their  Union 
is  a  Union  of  despotism,  a  Union  of  tyranny,  a 


202  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

Union  not  of  independent  fraternal  States,  each 
legislating  for  itself  upon  its  own  domestic  affairs." 
On  the  27th  of  February  the  House  resumed  the 
consideration  of  the  resolution,  and  Mr.  Higby  of 
California  addressed  the  House  upon  the  general 
question  of  reconstruction.  He  was  followed  by 
Mr.  Eandall  of  Pennsylvania,  who  opposed  the  reso 
lution  because  the  States  to  be  affected  by  it  were 
not  present  to  participate  in  the  action  by  which  it 
was  to  become  a  part  of  the  law  of  the  land.  Mr. 
Kelley  of  Pennsylvania  would  support  the  amend 
ment,  not  because  he  believed  it  absolutely  needed, 
but  because  there  were  those  who  doubted  that  the 
powers  imparted  by  the  amendment  were  to  be 
found  in  the  Constitution ;  he  believed  those  powers 
were  there  from  the  hour  of  its  adoption.  Mr.  Hale 
of  New  York  maintained  that  the  whole  intended 
effect  of  the  amendment,  was  to  protect  citizens  of 
African  descent  in  the  States  lately  in  rebellion. 
He  thought  this  kind  of  legislation  most  dangerous  ; 
he  believed  that  the  tendency  in  this  country  had 
been  from  the  first,  too  much  towards  the  accumu 
lation  and  strengthening  of  central  federal  power. 
He  fully  and  cordially  concurred  in  the  desire  to 
protect  the  humblest  as  well  as  the  highest,  the  late 
slave  as  well  as  others,  but  he  warned  gentlemen 
that  there  were  other  liberties  as  important  as  the 
liberties  of  the  citizen,  and  those  were  the  liberties 
and  rights  of  the  States.  Mr.  Price  of  Iowa  was 
among  the  few  who  did  not  claim  to  be  a  constitu- 


IN    CONGRESS.  203 

tional  lawyer,  of  which  the  last  four  years  had  been 
so  prolific.  He  understood  the  resolution  to  mean 
simply  that  if  a  citizen  of  Iowa  or  a  citizen  of 
Pennsylvania  had  any  business,  or  if  curiosity  had 
induced  him  to  visit  South  Carolina  or  Georgia,  he 
should  have  the  same  protection  of  the  laws  there 
that  he  would  have  had  had  he  lived  there  for  ten 
years. 

On  the  28th  of  FeburaryMr.  Davis  of  New  York 
said  :  "I  am  unwilling,  after  this  Constitution  has 
been  tested  in  peace,  and  in  foreign  war,  for  nearly 
eighty  years,  and  when,  during  the  last  four  years, 
it  has  been  to  us  as  a  cloud  by  day  and  a  pillar  of 
fire  by  night,  pointing  out  a  safe  pathway  to  the 
nation  through  the  Red  Sea  of  civil  war,  and  has  led 
us  to  final  triumph,  and  while  the  passions  excited 
by  the  civil  strife  remain  active  and  unsubdued,  and 
wounds  received  are  still  open  and  bleeding,  to 
amend  or  alter  the  organic  law  of  the  nation  in  any 
particular  where  a  supreme  necessity  does  not  de 
mand  it." 

"I  have  no  idea  that  any  arguments,"  said  Mr. 
Woodbridge  of  Vermont,  "that  I  may  advance,  or 
any  views  that  I  may  submit,  will  alter  the  mind  or 
the  vote  of  any  gentleman  upon  the  floor.  But, 
sir,  great  responsibilities  rest  upon  the  members  of 
the  present  Congress.  We  are  not  writing  history^ 
which  is  difficult ;  we  are  making  history,  which  is 
more  difficult  still.  The  footprints  of  this  Congress 
will  be  upon  the  rocks  of  the  mountains.  National 


204  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

and  political  convulsions  may  ensue ;  republics  may 
rise  and  fall ;  systems  of  government  may  be 
erected  and  destroyed ;  but  never,  so  long  as  the 
earth  rolls,  will  the  footprints  which  this  Congress 
makes  be  eradicated  from  history." 

He  maintained  that  the  adoption  of  this  amend 
ment  would  be  no  shock  upon  the  present  well-ar 
ranged  system,  defining  the  powers  of  the  General 
Government  and  the  States,  under  which  we  have 
so  happily  lived ;  that  the  condition  of  the  freed- 
men,  if  nothing  else,  demanded  the  adoption  of  this 
resolution;  and  that  in  his  judgment  the  people 
would  not  have  done  their  whole  duty  until  they 
should  see  to  it  tha^  the  amendment  was  adopted. 

Mr.  Bingham  followed  in  an  elaborate  speech  in 
explanation  and  support  of  his  amendment.  "  What 
an  anomaly,"  said  Mr.  Bingham,  "is  presented  to 
day  to  the  world !  We  have  the  power  to  vindicate 
the  personal  liberty  and  all  the  personal  rights  of 
the  citizen  on  the  remotest  sea,  under  the  frowning 
batteries  of  the  remotest  tyranny  on  this  earth, 
while  we  have  not  the  power  in  time  of  peace  to 
enforce  the  citizens'  rights  to  life,  liberty,  and  prop 
erty  within  the  limits  of  South  Carolina  after  her 
State  government  shall  be  recognized  and  her  con 
stitutional  relations  restored." 

He  closed  his  able  speech  with  the  following  ap 
peal  to  the  House  :  "  Kepresentatives,  to  you  I  ap 
peal,  that  hereafter,  by  your  act  and  the  approval  of 
the  loyal  people  of  this  country,  every  man  in 


IN   CONGRESS.  205 

every  State  of  the  Union,  in  accordance  with  the 
written  words  of  your  Constitution,  may,  by  the 
national  law,  be  secured  in  the  equal  protection  of 
his  personal  rights.  Your  Constitution  provides 
that  no  man,  no  matter  what  his  color,  no  matter 
beneath  what  sky  he  may  have  been  born,  no  mat 
ter  in  what  disastrous  conflict  or  by  what  tyrannical 
hand  his  liberty  may  have  been  cloven  down,  no 
matter  how  poor,  no  matter  how  friendless,  no  mat 
ter  how  ignorant,  shall  be  deprived  of  life  or  liber 
ty  or  property  without  due  process  of  law — law  in 
its  highest  sense,  that  law  which  is  the  perfection  of 
human  reason,  and  which  is  impartial,  equal,  exact 
justice ;  that  justice  which  requires  that  every  man 
shall  have  his  right ;  that  justice  which  is  the  high 
est  duty  of  nations  as  it  is  the  imperishable  attri 
bute  of  the  God  of  nations." 

Mr.  Conkling  of  New  York  had  not  assented  to 
the  report  of  the  committee  in  favor  of  the  reso 
lution.  Mr.  Hotchkiss  of  New  York  was  opposed 
to  the  adoption  of  the  amendment,  not  believing  it 
to  be  as  strong  as  the  Constitution  now  is.  Mr. 
Conkling  then  moved  that  the  further  consideration 
of  the  resolution  be  postponed  until  April.  Mr.  El- 
dridge  of  Wisconsin  moved  to  lay  the  resolution  on 
the  table,  but  the  motion  was  lost. — Yeas  41,  nays 
110.  The  question  recurring  on  the  motion  of  Mr. 
Conkling,  the  House,  by  a  vote  of  110  to  37,  post 
poned  the  further  consideration  of  the  subject  to 
the  second  Tuesday  of  April,  and  the  resolution  was 
not  again  taken  up. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

REPRESENTATION. 

Concurrent  Resolution  reported  by  Mr.  Stevens  on  admission  of  Senators 
and  Representatives  from  rebel  States.— Mr.  Grider's  minority  report. — 
Speech  of  Mr.  Eldridge.— Mr.  Stevens.— Resolution  passed.— In  the  Sen 
ate  Mr.  Fessenden  called  up  the  Resolution.— Debated  by  Messrs.  Cowan, 
Fessenden,  Johnson,  Trumbull,  Davis,  Dixon,  Sherman,  Fessenden,  Doo- 
little,  Howe,  Johnson.— Speech  of  Mr.  Fessenden,  Mr.  Sherman,  Mr. 
Dixoii.— Remarks  of  Mr.  Trumbull,  Mr.  Dixon  and  Mr.  Howard.— Speech 
of  Mr.  Nye,  Mr.  Stewart,  Mr.  Johnson. — Mr.  Hendricks  moved  an  amend 
ment.— Speech  of  Mr.  Wade,  Mr.  Cowan,  Mr.  Davis,  Mr.  Doolittle,  Mr. 
Wilson,  Mr:  Fessenden,  Mr.  McDougall.— Resolution  passed. 

IN  the  House  of  Representatives  on  the  20th  day 
of  February,  1866,  Mr.  Stevens  reported  from  the 
Joint  Committee  on  reconstruction,  a  concurrent 
resolution,  "that  in  order  to  close  agitation  upon 
a  question  which  seems  likely  to  disturb  the  action 
of  1he  Government,  as  well  as  to  quiet  the  uncer 
tainty  which  is  agitating  the  minds  of  the  people 
of  the  eleven  States  which  have  been  declared  to 
be  in  insurrection,  no  Senator  or  Representative 
shall  be  admitted  into  either  branch  of  Congress 
from  any  of  said  States,  until  Congress  shall  hav-e 
declared  such  State  entitled  to  such  representation." 

Mr.  Grider  of  Kentucky  asked  Mr.  Stevens  to 
yield  the  floor,  to  permit  him  to  make  a  minority 
report  concluding  with  a  resolution  that  the  State  of 

206 


IN    CONGRESS.  207 

Tennessee  was  entitled  to  representation,  but  Mr. 
Stevens  declined  to  yield.  Pending  the  motion  for 
the  previous  question  dilatory  motions  were  made, 
and  protracted  resistance  was  made  by  the  minority. 
After  a  struggle  of  several  hours  Mr.  Eldridge  of 
Wisconsin  stated  that  the  minority  felt  that  a  mea 
sure  containing  such  provisions  ought  to  receive 
deliberate  consideration,  and  for  that  reason  they 
had  striven  through  the  day  against  immediate  ac 
tion  ;  but  they  knew  it  had  become  a  question  of 
physical  endurance ;  they  knew  their  weakness ; 
they  had  done  all  they  could  and  they  yielded  to 
power,  throwing  upon  the  majority  the  responsi 
bility  of  that  most  extraordinary  and  most  revolu 
tionary  measure. 

"The  gentlemen,"  replied  Mr.  Stevens,  "accept 
their  condition  just  as  Jeff  Davis  did  his,  because 
they  cannot  help  it.  I  confess  sir,  for  so  small  a 
number  they  have  made  a  most  venomous  fight. 
I  am  only  sorry  that  the  gentleman  from  New  Jer 
sey,  (Mr.  Rogers,)  who  belongs  to  the  same  tribe, 
could  not  have  had  an  opportunity  also  to  shake  his 
rattle  and  point  his  sting." 

On  the  motion  of  Mr.  Washburne  of  Illinois,  the 
House  ordered  the  yeas  and  nays ;  the  question 
was  then  taken  and  the  resolution  passed. — Yeas 
109,  nays  40. 

In  the  Senate  on  the  21st  Mr.  Fessenden  pro 
posed  to  take  up  the  resolution  ;  and  after  a  debate 
in  which  Messrs.  Cowan,  Fessenden,  Johnson,  Trum- 


208  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

bull,  Davis,  and  Dixon  participated,  it  was  taken 
up,  read,  and  then  went  over  under  the  rule. 

On  the  23d  Mr.  Fessenden  again  proposed  to  call 
up  the  resolution.  Mr.  Sherman  was  opposed  to 
taking  it  up  at  that  time.  He  anticipated  no  good 
and  much  evil  as  the  result  of  precipitating  the 
Senate  into  a  debate  on  the  resolution.  After  far 
ther  debate,  participated  in  by  Mr.  Fessenden,  Mr. 
Doolittle,  Mr.  Howe,  Mr.  Johnson  and  Mr.  Trum- 
bull,  the  resolution  was  taken  up  by  26  yeas  to  19 
nays. 

Mr.  Fessenden  then  made  an  elaborate  argument 
upon  the  condition  of  the  country,  in  review  of  the 
veto,  on  the  Freedmen's  bureau,  and  upon  recon 
struction..  He  maintained  "that  this  country  has 
been  in  a  state  of  war,  decidedly  in  a  state  of  war, 
war  according  to  the  books,  war  in  its  worst  accep 
tation,  war  in  the  very  strongest  meaning  of  the 
term,  without  any  limitation  or  qualification.  If 
we  have  been  in  a  state  of  war,  the  question  arises 
— and  it  is  a  very  simple  one,  and  I  think  this 
whole  thing  lies  in  a  narrow  compass — is  there 
any  dispute  as  to  what  are  the  consequences  of 
war?  What  are  the  consequences  of  successful 
war?  Where  one  nation  conquers  another,  over 
comes  it  without  qualifications,  without  terms,  with 
out  limits,  and  after  a  bitter  contest  succeeds  in 
crushing  its  enemy,  occupying  its  enemy's  terri 
tory,  destroying  its  posts,  what  are  the  conse 
quences  ?  *  *  *  *  *  Is  there  anything 


IN    CONGRESS.  209: 

more  certain  than  that  the  conqueror  has  a  right, 
if  he  chooses,  to  change  the  form  of  government, 
that  he  has  a  right  to  punish,  that  he  has  a  right 
to  take  entire  control  of  the  nation  and  the  people,, 
that  he  has  a  right  to  exact  security  for  the  future, 
and  such  security  for  his  own  safety  as  he  may  de 
mand;  that  all  these  rights  are  his,  with  only  the 
limitation  that  he  shall  not  abuse  them  and  conduct 
them  in  a  manner  contrary  to  humanity,  in  the  ordi 
nary  acceptation  of  the  term  ?" 

Mr.  Fessenden  closed  his  very  able  speech  on 
Reconstruction  with  this  emphatic  declaration :  "My 
judgment  is,  that  we  hold  the  power  over  that 
whole  subject  in  our  own  hands,  that  it  is  our  duty 
to  hold  it  in  our  own  hands,  and  to  regard  it  as  a 
matter  of  the  most  intense  interest  to  the  whole 
people,  involving  the  good  of  the  whole  people, 
calling  for  our  most  careful  consideration,  and  to 
be  adjudged  without  passion,  without  temper,  with 
out  any  of  that  feeling  which  may  be  supposed  to 
have  arisen  out  of  the  unexampled  state  of  things 
through  which  we  have  passed." 

On  the  26th  the  debate  was  resumed  by  Mr. 
Sherman,  who  addressed  the  Senate  at  great  length 
upon  reconstruction.  He  deprecated  quarreling 
with  the  President  unless  compelled  to  it  by  his  base 
betrayal  of  the  obligations  imposed  upon  and  ac 
cepted  by  him  as  the  candidate  of  the  Republicans. 
"The  curse  of  God,"  he  said,  "the  maledictions  of 

millions  of  our  people,  and  the  tears  and  blood  qf 
14 


210  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

new-made  freemen  will,  in  my  judgment,  rest  upon 
those  who  now  for  any  cause  destroy  the  unity  of 
the  great  party  that  has  led  us  through  the  wilder 
ness  of  war." 

He  thus  closed  his  very  able  speech:  "No  word 
from  me  shall  drive  him  into  political  fellowship 
with  those  who,  when  he  was  one  of  the  moral  he 
roes  of  this  war,  denounced  him,  spit  upon  him,  and 
despitefully  used  him.  The  association  must  be 
self-sought,  and  even  then  I  will  part  with  him  in 
sorrow,  but  with  the  abiding  hope  that  the  same 
Almighty  power  that  has  guided  us  through  the 
recent  war  will  be  with  us  still  in  our  new  difficul 
ties  until  every  State  is  restored  to  its  full  commun 
ion  and  fellowship,  and  until  our  nation,  purified 
by  war,  will  assume  among  the  nations  of  the  earth 
,the  grand  position  hoped  for  by  Washington,  Clay, 
Webster,  Lincoln,  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  un 
named  heroes  who  gave  up  their  lives  for  its  glory." 

On  the  27th  Mr.  Dixon  spoke  at  great  length  in 
favor  of  the  policy  of  the  President.  "It  is  my  be 
lief,"  he  said,  "right  or  wrong,  that  what  is  known 
as  the  policy  of  the  President  for  the  restoration 
of  the  late  seceded  States  in  this  Government,  is 
the  correct  policy." 

Mr.  Trumbull  replied  to  Mr.  Dixon,  and  the  de 
bate  was  continued  by  Mr.  Dixon  and  Mr.  Howard. 
On  the  28th  Mr.  Nye  of  Nevada  addressed  the  Sen 
ate  in  an  eloquent,  elaborate  and  effective  speech. 
"I  have  grown  to  believe,"  he  said,  "that  equal  pro- 


IN   CONGRESS.  211 

tection  has  became  a  matter  of  imperative  national 
necessity.  So  far  as  the  experiment  has  been  tried 
in  an  opposite  direction  we  have  but  a  poor  account. 
That  account,  sir,  tallies  with  and  accords  with  all 
history.  The  war  of  race  upon  race,  or  class  upon 
class,  is  certain  to  lead  to  the  destruction  of  patriot 
ism  in  any  nation.  Nothing  can  spring  from  it  but 
social  and  political  discontent.  It  is  the  origin  of 
convulsions,  rebellions,  and  revolutions.  I  will 
maintain  that  no  people  has  yet  existed  that  did 
not  find  its  causes  of  national  decay  and  national 
dissolution  in  the  warfare  of  class  upon  class.  We 
have  as  yet  held  our  nation  together.  The  stern 
republicanism  in  the  northern  States ;  its  intelli 
gence  and  power  of  comprehension ;  its  firm  attach 
ment  to  free  popular  government;  its  unbending 
determination  to  maintain  such  government,  assist 
ed  by  the  white  and  colored  loyalty  found  in  the 
South,  has  carried  us  through  the  rugged  part  of 
the  great  shock.  We  know  the  cause  of  our  diffi 
culties,  and  we  may  know  if  we  will,  that  there  is 
but  one  remedy  for  the  future.  That  remedy  lies 
in  equalized  protection  under  equal  laws ;  and  if 
that  involves  the  necessity  of  equal  suffrage,  then, 
sir,  in  my  opinion  it  becomes  the  stern  duty  of  the 
nation  to  enforce  it.  If  in  the  warfare  of  race  upon 
race,  or  class  upon  class,  unequal  suffrage  can  be 
made  an  instrument  of  oppression,  I  insist  on  the 
right  and  power  of  the  nation  to  make  equal  suf 
frage  the  agency  of  defense."  Mr.  Stewart  of  Ne- 


212  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

vada  continued  the  debate,  and  before  concluding 
the  Senate  adjourned. 

On  the  1st,  of  March  the  debate  was  resumed  by 
Mr.  Stewart,  who  spoke  at  length  on  matters  per 
taining  to  reconstruction.  He  closed  with  an  ear 
nest  appeal  for  the  speedy  restoration  of  the  Union. 
"I  appeal,"  said  he,  "to  the  loyal  majority  of  this 
House  to  sink  all  minor  differences  and  secure  the 
Union  of  these  States,  with  slavery,  the  parent  of 
secession,  abolished,  with  the  dignity  and  honor  of 
the  nation  preserved  and  vindicated,  with  the  free 
Constitution  of  the  fathers  intact,  before  discord 
and  confusion  shall  have  again  drenched  this  land 
with  fraternal  blood.  We  are  called  upon  by  all 
that  we  hold  most  sacred  and  dear  to  secure  at  once 
the  fruits  of  victory,  to  risk  nothing  to  chance  or 
anarchy ;  and  if  we  cannot  obtain  all  we  would,  let 
us  obtain  what  we  can.  If  we  preserve  what  we 
now  have,  an  all-wise  Providence,  in  his  own  good 
time,  will  grant  us  still  greater  blessings  and  greater 
advancement  in  the  work  of  regeneration  and  re 
form  ;  but  if  anarchy  and  discord  are  allowed  by 
us  to  obscure  the  bright  sunshine  of  peace  which  is 
lighting  the  way  and  cheering  the  hearts  of  the  be 
nevolent  and  true,  a  fearful  responsibility  awaits  us, 
both  here  and  hereafter." 

Mr.  Johnson  followed  in  an  elaborate  argument 
mainly  in  reply  to  Mr.  Fessenden.  He  opposed  the 
resolution  which  said  to  the  people  of  the  South, 
"You  must  be  kept  out  until  Congress  shall  by  law 


IN   CONGRESS.  213 

declare  that  you  ought  to  be  admitted."  He  closed 
by  saying,  "We  have  passed  through  four  years  to 
all  of  us  of  unexampled  distress ;  our  own  homes 
have  felt  the  desolation  of  war ;  but  our  homes  are 
as  nothing  to  the  homes  of  the  southern  people. 
Where  comfort  and  luxury  were  to  be  seen  and 
hospitality  was  extended  to  all,  there  is  now  noth 
ing  but  penury  and  almost  absolute  want.  The 
women  of  the  South,  brought  up  in  luxury  and  ed 
ucated  to  refinement,  are  now  almost  hewers  of 
wood  and  drawers  of  water  in  order  to  sustain 
themselves  and  their  children.  So  it  must  be  until 
we  take  them  by  the  hand,  throw  around  them  the 
asgis  of  the  Constitution,  and  give  them  a  new  birth, 
welcome  them  among  us  as  brothers,  extend  to 
them  the  right  hand  of  fellowship,  and  then  they 
and  we,  when  that  time  shall  come — God  grant  that 
it  may  come  at  once — will  pray  to  Heaven  that  in 
no  time  of  the  future  shall  there  ever  be  again  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States  to  raise  his  arm  against 
his  Government." 

Mr.  Hendricks  moved  to  amend  the  Resolution 
so  as  to  say  the  inhabitants  of  the  States  were  in 
rebellion  rather  than  the  States.  He  objected  to 
the  Resolution  because  it  carried  the  idea  that  the 
States  had  to  be  brought  back  into  the  Union  by 
an  act  of  Congress. 

Mr.  Wade  said  he  had  been  denounced  as  an 
abolitionist,  now  he  was  branded  as  a  radical.  Abo 
lition  had  conquered,  all  were  now  abolitionists, 


214  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

many  on  compulsion.  The  war  on  the  radicals 
would  fail.  "In  the  history  of  mankind/'  said  Mr. 
Wade,  "so  far  as  I  have  read  or  known  it,  there 
never  has  been  a  time  when  parties  were  so  organ 
ized  on  radical  principles  of  justice  and  right.  The 
party  with  whom  I  act  appeal  to  no  expediency,  to 
none  of  your  political  policies ;  we  dig  down  to  the 
granite  of  eternal  truth,  and  there  we  stand,  and 
they  who  assail  us  have  to  assail  the  great  princi 
ples  of  the  Almighty,  for  our  principles  are  chained 
to  His  throne,  and  are  as  indestructible  as  the  Al 
mighty  himself." 

On  the  2d  Mr.  Cowan  resumed  the  debate,  and 
spoke  at  great  length  in  opposition  to  the  new 
measures  of  Congress.  He  said :  "I  would  keep 
out  traitors,  not  keep  out  States :  I  would  punish 
criminals,  and  not  enslave  communities;  I  would 
single  out  the  guilty,  and  not  confound  the  innocent 
with  them." 

Mr.  Davis  followed  in  opposition  to  the  resolution 
and  to  the  general  policy  of  Congress.  He  said 
the  Southern  people  were  loyal,  more  loyal  than 
those  who  kept  them  out.  "You  cannot,"  he  said, 
"keep  them  out  always,  Senators.  The  time  will 
come  when  there  will  be  a  recoil  and  a  terrible  re 
coil.  This  country  is  becoming  impatient,  indig 
nant,  and  outraged  by  this  paltering  with  the  liber 
ties  of  the  southern  people  and  with  the  fundamen 
tal  principles  of  our  Constitution.  Whenever  the 


IN    CONGRESS.  215 

President  chooses  to  grasp  the  remedy  it  is  at  his 
hand. 

&  :•:  &  £  £  £  £  # 

Whenever  Andrew  Johnson  chooses  to  exercise 
his  high  function,  his  constitutional  right  of  saying 
to  the  southern  Senators,  'Get  together  with  the 
Democrats  and  the  Conservatives  of  the  Senate, 
and  if  you  constitute  a  majority  I  will  recognize 
you  as  the  Senate  of  the  United  States/  what  then 
will  become  of  you,  gentlemen  ?  You  will  quietly 
come  in  and  form  a  part  of  that  Senate." 

Mr.  Doolittle  followed  Mr.  Davis  in  opposition  to 
the  Resolution,  and  in  the  course  of  his  speech  he 
dissented  to  the  doctrine  of  Mr.  Davis  touching  the 
recognition  of  Congress  by  the  President.  It  was 
revolutionary  as  suggested  by  Mr.  Davis,  and  not 
to  be  tolerated. 

Mr.  Saulsbury  and  Mr.  McDougall  briefly  stated 
their  opposition  to  the  Resolution. 

Mr.  Wilson  said :  "All  that  is  disloyal  from  the 
Susquehanna  to  the  Rio  Grande,  and  the  champions 
of  slavery  and  caste  everywhere,  are  exultant,  de 
fiant,  aggressive.  The  poor  freedmen,  who  a  few 
months  ago  were  leaping  and  laughing  with  the 
joy  of  new-found  liberty,  invoking  the  blessing  of 
Heaven  upon  the  Government  that  had  stricken  the 
galling  manacles  from  their  limbs,  are  now  trem 
bling  with  apprehension,  everywhere  subject  to  in 
dignity,  insult,  outrage,  and  murder. 


216  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

In  hundreds  of  thousands  of  the  homes  of  the 
loyal  people,  who  in  the  autumn  of  1864  offered  up 
their  daily  prayers  on  bended  knees  for  the  triumph 
of  their  struggling  country,  and  for  the  election  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  and  Andrew  Johnson,  there  are 
manly  hearts  throbbing  heavily  with  anxieties  and 
gloomy  forebodings.  Noble  men,  and  noble  women 
too,  have  prayed  and  hoped  and  toiled  through 
many  a  year  for  the  triumph  of  liberty,  justice,  and 
humanity  in  America.  *  *  *  Their  hearts  are 
now  throbbing  heavily  with  a  great  sorrow,  for  they 
see  that  instead  of  spending  the  coming  three  years 
in  strengthening  the  patriotism,  securing  the  liber 
ties,  and  extending  the  mild  sway  of  equal  justice 
to  men  of  every  race,  these  precious  years  are  to 
be  wasted,  squandered  in  wicked  wrangles,  and  in 
the  use  of  the  corrupt  and  corrupting  patronage 
of  the  Government  to  debauch  the  public  morals 
and  to  degrade  the  nation  in  the  face  of  earth  and 
of  heaven.  Sir,  why  is  it  that  the  heart  of  a  loyal 
people  throbs  heavily  with  disappointment  and  sor 
row  ?  What,  in  God's  name,  have  the  loyal  people 
of  America  done  that  they  should  be  so  disappoint 
ed,  so  punished,  so  humiliated  ? 

*#**#### 

The  loyal  people  who  stood  by  their  country  amid 
the  storms  of  civil  war  with  unwravering  constancy, 
will  hold  their  public  servants  in  all  positions,  in 
Congress,  in  the  Cabinet,  in  the  executive  chair,  to 
a  stern  responsibility.  Unwise  words  may  have  fall- 


IN   CONGRESS.  217 

en  from  the  lips  of  Senators,  and  Representatives, 
and  Cabinet  officers,  and  even  from  the  Executive, 
but  a  patriotic  and  liberty-loving  people  will  forget 
these  words,  if  they  perform  deeds  that  will  cement 
the  unity  of  the  Republic,  hedge  about  and  secure 
the  rights  of  the  laboring  poor,  and  bring  enduring 
peace  and  prosperity  to  the  country  recently  swept 
by  the  storms  of  civil  war." 

Mr.  Fessenden  replied  to  the  remarks  of  several 
Senators  and  closed  the  debate.  The  vote  was  then 
taken  on  Mr.  Hendrick's  amendment,  and  it  was  re 
jected. — Yeas  17,  nays  29. 

Mr.  McDougall  declared  that  "the  question  pend 
ing  now,  as  simple  as  it  appears,  as  practically  use 
less  as  it  will  be  as  a  rule  if  passed,  is  yet  mischiev 
ous.  It  will  have  no  validity,  because  it  is  not  with 
in  the  power  of  the  Senate  to  pass  it  It  will  be 
my  right  to  ignore  it,  the  right  of  every  Senator, 
and  the  right  of  every  man  who  represents  the  Gov 
ernment  in  office.  It  is,  however,  in  the  way  of 
teaching  bad  precedents,  false  law,  unsound  loyalty. 
These  things  are  like  the  worms  that  eat  into  the 
majestic  oaks,  which  are  used  to  build  vessels  to 
ride  the  sea,  and  decay  their  strength  so  that  they 
fall  down  and  make  wrecks  of  navies."  The  Reso 
lution  was  then  passed. — Yeas  29,  nays  18. 


CHAPTEE  X. 

BASIS  OF   REPRESENTATION— CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENTS. 

Mr.  Stevens'  Joint  Resolution. — Mr.  Stevens'  speech. — Speech  of  Mr.  Rog 
ers,  Mr.  Conkling,  Mr.  Elaine,  Mr.  Kelley,  Mr.  Donnelly,  Mr.  Brooks. — Mr. 
Baker's  amendment. — Speech  of  Mr.  Jenckes. — Mr.  Shellabarger's  amend, 
ment. — Mr.  Elliot's  amendment. — Mr.  Schenck's  amendment. — Speech  of 
Mr.  Pike.— Remarks  of  Mr.  Kelley.— Speech  of  Mr.  Eldridge,  Mr.  Bing- 
ham. — Mr.  Broomall's  amendment. — Speech  of  Mr.  Ward. — Mr.  Schenck's 
substitute  rejected. — Joint  Resolution  adopted. — Considered  in  the  Sen 
ate. — Mr.  Sumner's  speech. — Mr.  Henderson's  motion  to  amend  Mr.  Sum- 
ner's  amendment. — Speech  of  Mr.  Fessenden,  Mr.  Lane,  Mr.  Johnson. — 
Mr.  Sumner's  amendment. — Speech  of  Mr.  Henderson,  Mr.  Clarke,  Mr. 
Williams. — Mr.  Howard's  amendment. — Speech  of  Mr.  Wilson,  Mr.  Pom- 
eroy,  Mr.  Saulsbury,  Mr.  Sumner,  Mr.  Morrill. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Fessen 
den. — Mr.  Sherman's  amendment. — Mr.  Clark's  amendment. — Mr,  Grimes 
and  Mr.  Sumner's  amendments. — Mr.  Wilson's  amendment. 

IN  the  House  of  Kepresentatives  on  the  22d  of 
January,  1866,  Mr.  Stevens  of  Pennsylvania  re 
ported  from  the  Committee  on  Reconstruction,  a 
joint  resolution  proposing  that  "Representatives 
and  direct  taxes  shall  be  apportioned  among  the 
several  States  which  may  be  included  within  this 
Union  according  to  their  respective  numbers,  count 
ing  the  whole  number  of  persons  in  each  State,  ex 
cluding  Indians  not  taxed :  Provided,  That  when 
ever  the  elective  franchise  shall  be  denied  or 
abridged  in  any  State  on  account  of  race  or  color, 

218 


IN    CONGRESS.  219 

all  persons  of  such  race  or  color  shall  be  excluded 
from  the  basis  of  representation." 

Mr.  Stevens  said,  in  support  of  the  amendment, 
"It  proposes  to  change  the  present  basis  of  repre 
sentation  to  a  representation  upon  all  persons,  with 
the  proviso  that  wherever  any  State  excludes  a 
particular  class  of  persons  from  the  elective  fran 
chise,  that  State  to  that  extent  shall  not  be  entitled 
to  be  represented  in  Congress.  It  does  not  deny 
to  the  States  the  right  to  regulate  the  elective  fran 
chise  as  they  please  ;  but  it  does  say  to  a  State,  'If 
you  exclude  from  the  right  of  suffrage  Frenchmen, 
Irishmen,  or  any  particular  class  of  people,  none  of 
that  class  of  persons  shall  be  counted  in  fixing  your 
representation  in  this  House.'  " 

Mr.  Rogers  of  New  Jersey  opposed  the  amend 
ment,  declaring  that  it  appeared  to  have  in  its  body, 
in  its  soul,  and  in  its  life  only  one  great  object  and 
aim  to  debase  and  degrade  the  white  race,  and  to 
place  upon  a  higher  footing  than  the  white  men 
are  placed,  under  the  Constitution,  this  African 
race. 

Mr.  Conkling,  a  member  of  the  committee  on  re 
construction,  said  that  the  framers  of  the  Constitu 
tion  never  dreamed  of  the  present  condition  of 
affairs.  They  trusted  to  gradual  emancipation, 
which  should  go  hand  in  hand  with  education  and 
enfranchisement.  They  never  peered  into  the  bloody 
epoch  when  four  million  fetters  would  be  at  once 


220  RECONSTRUCTION  MEASURES 

melted  off  in  the  fires  of  war.  "They  never  saw 
such  a  vision  as  we  see." 

On  the  23d  of  January  the  House  resumed  the 
consideration  of  the  resolution,  and  Mr.  Blame  of 
Maine  addressed  the  House  upon  the  basis  of  rep 
resentation.  Mr.  Kelley  of  Pennsylvania  moved  to 
amend  so  as  to  provide  that  representatives  and 
direct  taxation  should  be  apportioned  among  the 
several  States  of  the  Union  according  to  their  sev 
eral  numbers,  counting  all  but  Indians  riot  taxed, 
and  all  persons  denied  the  right  of  suffrage  on  ac 
count  Of  race  or  color,  and  providing  that  the 
amendment  should  not  affect  the  power  of  Con 
gress  to  regulate  the  qualifications  for  electors  of 
the  most  numerous  branch  of  State  legislatures. 

"I  shall  vote,"  said  Mr.  Donnelly  of  Minnesota, 
"for  this  measure,  not  as  a  finality,  but  as  a  partial 
step,  as  one  of  a  series  of  necessary  laws ;  not,  as  I 
have  heard  it  termed,  as  a  '  compromise.'  For  one 
I  shall  not  rest  satisfied  until  every  security  is  given 
for  the  safety,  the  prosperity,  and  the  development 
of  all  the  people  of  the  South,  without  distinction 
of  race  or  color,  feeling  assured  that  in  that  only 
can  we  find  the  safety  of  the  South  and  the  well- 
being  of  the  nation." 

Mr.  Sloan  of  Wisconsin  advocated  an  amend 
ment  to  base  representation  on  suffrage.  Mr.  Brooks 
of  New  York  declared  that  these  propositions  to 
amend  the  Constitution  were  only  introduced  for 
purposes  of  agitation,  as  no  one  believed  that  they 


1     UNIVERSITY 

V     OF 

IN   CONGRESS.  221 

would  be  adopted  by  three-fourths  of  the  States. 
Mr.  Orth  of  Indiana  moved  to  amend  so  as  to  base 
representation  on  suffrage.  Mr.  Chanler  of  New 
York  declared  that  this  measure  "if  passed  will  tend 
to  obscure  the  sun  from  which  the  liberties  of  this 
country  derive  their  nourishment  and  life,  the  bril 
liant  orb,  the  Constitution,  whose  light  has  spread 
itself  to  the  farthest  ends  of  the  earth.  The  vital 
principle  of  that  Constitution,  the  soul  of  its  being, 
is  that  balance  of  power  between  the  States  which 
insures  individual  liberty  to  every  citizen  of  each 
State,  and  harmony  among  all  the  States  of  this 
Union." 

******** 

"If  this  resolution  takes  effect,  you  surrender  to 
the  black  race  of  the  South  control  in  the  legisla 
tive  halls  in  the  southern  States :  by  the  policy  and 
practical  working  of  all  such  measures  you  exclude 
white  labor,  and  by  the  exclusion  of  white  labor 
you  give  the  control  of  the  ballot  box  to  the  negro 
who  will  hereafter,  by  this  system  of  enactments, 
become  the  majority  of  the  people  under  the  demo 
cratic  and  established  law  of  our  whole  policy  and 
the  Constitution,  and  we  must  bow  to  the  will  of 
the  people.  Ingraft  the  black  man  into  the  term 
'people'  and  you  surrender  the  South  to  the  black 
race,  and  the  question  comes  up  not  between  slave 
and  free,  but  between  black  and  white." 

Mr.  Farnsworth  of  Illinois  would  vote  for  the 
amendment  with  great  reluctance.  Mr.  Baker  and 


222  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

Mr.  Ingersoll  of  Illinois  continued  the  debate,  and 
Mr.  Baker  submitted  an  amendment  so  to  modify 
the  resolution  that  no  State  should  be  permitted  to 
establish  any  property  qualification.  Mr.  Jenckes 
of  Rhode  Island  spoke  briefly  in  opposition  to  the 
amendment.  He  thought  the  amendment  would 
be  hailed  with  a  shout  of  joy  in  every  rebellious 
legislature.  "This  amendment/'  said  he,  "would  be 
read  with  sorrow  and  regret  throughout  the  world 
by  all  that  sympathized  with  republican  institutions, 
and  if  carried  into  practical  effect  it  would  be  met 
with  the  loud  indignation  of  our  constituents,  the 
scornful  derision  of  our  enemies,  and  the  inextin 
guishable  laughter  of  the  friends  of  aristocracy  and 
oligarchy  among  all  the  nations  of  the  world."  The 
resolution  was  further  opposed  by  Mr.  Trimble  of 
Kentucky. 

On  the  24th  the  House  resumed  the  considera 
tion  of  the  resolution,  the  pending  question  being 
on  the  motion  of  Mr.  Le  Blond  to  refer  it  to  the 
Committee  of  the  whole  on  the  state  of  the  Union. 
Mr.  Lawrence  of  Ohio  moved  that  the  pending  reso 
lution  and  amendments  be  recommitted  to  the  com 
mittee  on  reconstruction,  with  instructions  to  re 
port  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  which 
should  apportion  direct  taxes  among  the  States  ac 
cording  to  property  ;  and  apportion  Representatives 
on  the  basis  of  adult  male  voters,  citizens  of  the 
United  States. 

Mr.  Shellabarger  of  Ohio  suggested  a  modification 


IN   CONGRESS.  223 

of  Ihe  amendment,  apportioning  Representatives 
among  the  States  according  to  the  number  of  male 
citizens  entitled  to  vote,  and  direct  taxes  according 
to  the  value  of  property.  Mr.  Shellabarger  spoke 
in  favor  of  his  modification  of  the  amendment.  The 
debate  was  continued  by  Mr.  Conkling,  who  main 
tained  that  historically  and  legally,  from  the  foun 
dation  of  the  government,  every  State  had  exercised 
undisputed  sway  over  the  whole  question  of  suffrage. 
Mr.  Eliot  proposed  to  amend  the  joint  resolution  by 
declaring  that  the  elective  franchise  should  not  be 
denied  nor  abridged  in  any  State  on  account  of  race 
or  color.  Mr.  Eliot  thought  that  we  were  under 
taking,  in  the  joint  resolution  reported  by  the  com 
mittee,  to  serve  God  and  mammon.  Mr.  Schenck 
of  Ohio  proposed  to  amend  the  amendment  sub 
mitted  by  Mr.  Eliot,  so  as  to  base  representation  on 
the  number  of  male  citizens  over  twenty-one  years 
of  age,  but  that  the  number  of  representatives 
should  not  exceed  one  for  every  hundred  and  twen 
ty-five  thousand  inhabitants.  Mr.  Pike  of  Maine 
maintained  that  the  whole  history  of  restricted 
suffrage  showed  that  it  was  better  for  the  electors 
and  better  for  those  who  were  chosen  that  all  citi 
zens  of  proper  age  should  be  allowed  their  voice  in 
saying  who  should  make  their  laws.  He  was  in 
favor  of  Mr.  Schenck's  amendment.  Mr.  Kelley  of 
Pennsylvania  maintained  the  constitutional  power 
of  Congress  to  establish  suffrage,  and  that  "the  en 
forcement  of  this  long-dormant  power  of  the  Con- 


224  RECONSTRUCTION    MEASURES 

stitution  is  needed  by  the  wise,  the  strong  and  the 
wealthy  of  our  country  as  well  as  by  the  poor,  the 
ignorant  and  the  weak."  Mr.  Bromwell,  Mr.  Cook, 
and  Mr.  Marshall  of  Illinois,  and  Mr.  Schenck  of 
Ohio  continued  the  debate. 

On  the  25th  the  debate  was  resumed  by  Mr.  El- 
dridge  of  Wisconsin,  in  opposition  to  the  amend 
ment  to  the  Constitution.  He  said:  "The  war  is 
over ;  its  work  of  carnage  and  death  is  done ;  it 
has  driven  its  plowshare  down  deep  into  our  insti 
tutions  ;  time  can  never  remove  its  impress ;  its 
effect  for  good  and  for  ill  cannot  be  eradicated ;  the 
chains  of  bondage  broken  we  would  not  again  unite, 
the  sundered  ties  of  life  we  cannot ;  the  passions, 
resentments,  animosities,  and  hatreds  aroused  and 
engendered  will  slowly  wear  away  ;  with  it  let  the 
brotherhood  revive.  Our  country  has  triumphed ; 
its  highest  interest,  its  proudest  glory,  its  richest 
blessing  will  only  be  realized  in  the  full  resumption 
by  every  State  of  its  rights,  its  duties,  and  its  func 
tions  in  the  Union  of  the  Constitution.  We  want 
no  Ireland,  no  Poland,  no  Hungary,  with  their  op 
pressed  and  unhappy  peoples  cherishing  their  smoth 
ered  wrath  and  plotting  revolution.  A  restored 
Union  is  restored  amity.  Many  have  been  wrong ; 
all  have  suffered.  As  we  hope  to  be  forgiven,  let 
us  forgive." 

Mr.  Strouse  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Mr.  Higby  of 
California  continued  the  debate  in  opposition  to  the 
amendment.  Mr.  Higby  would  recommit  the  amend- 


IN    CONGRESS.  225 

ment  to  the  committee  on  reconstruction  without 
instructions ;  Mr.  Stevens  opposed  the  recommittal. 
Mr.  Bingham  spoke  earnestly  in  favor  of  the  amend 
ment.  He  maintained  that  the  proviso  was  noth 
ing  but  a  penalty  for  a  violation  on  the  part  of  the 
people  of  any  State,  of  the  political  right  of  fran- 
chise  guaranteed  by  the  Constitution  to  free  male 
citizens  of  full  age.  He  closed  by  saying,  "the  Re 
public  is  great ;  it  is  great  in  its  domain,  equal  in 
extent  to  continental  Europe,  abounding  in  the  pro 
ductions  of  every  zone,  broad  enough  and  fertile 
enough  to  furnish  bread  and  homes  to  three  hun 
dred  million  freemen.  The  Eepublic  is  great  in  the 
intelligence,  thrift,  industry,  energy,  virtue,  and 
valor  of  its  unconquered  and  unconquerable  chil 
dren  ;  and  great  in  its  matchless,  wise,  and  benefi 
cent  Constitution.  I  pray  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  to  propose  to  the  people  all  needful 
amendments  to  the  Constitution,  that  by  their  sov 
ereign  act  they  may  crown  the  Republic  for  all 
time  with  the  greatness  of  justice." 

Mr.  Broomall  proposed  to  amend  the  joint  reso 
lution  so  as  to  provide  that  whenever  the  elective 
franchise  should  be  denied  by  the  constitution  or 
laws  of  any  State  to  any  proportion  of  its  male 
citizens  over  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  the  same 
proportion  of  its  population  should  be  excluded 
from  its  basis  of  representation. 

Mr.  Ward  of  New  York  said :  "The  fact  that  one 
South  Carolinian,  whose  hands  are  red  with  the 
15 


226  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

blood  of  fallen  patriots,  and  whose  skirts  are  reck 
ing  with  the  odors  of  Columbia  and  Andersonville, 
will  have  a  voice  as  potential  in  these  Halls  as  two 
and  a  half  Vermont  soldiers,  who  have  come  back 
from  the  grandest  battle-fields  in  history,  maimed 
and  scarred  in  the  contest  with  South  Carolina  trai 
tors  in  their  efforts  to  destroy  this  Government, 
cries  aloud  for  remedy ;  and  it  depends  upon  Con 
gress  to  inaugurate  this  remedy." 

Mr.  Nicholson  of  Delaware  opposed  the  amend 
ment.  He  challenged  the  Republican  members  to 
proclaim  universal  suffrage. 

On  the  26th  the  debate  was  resumed  by  Mr.  Hard 
ing  of  Kentucky,  in  opposition  to  the  amendment 
or  to  any  amendment  to  the  Constitution.  Mr.  Mc- 
Kee  of  Kentucky  followed :  he  was  not  afraid  of 
political  or  social  equality  with  any  race,  and  be 
lieved  in  every  man  having  the  same  show  in 
this  world  for  life.  Mr.  Kerr  of  Indiana  made  an 
elaborate  speech  in  opposition  to  the  amendment 
and  to  any  amendment  of  the  Constitution.  Mr. 
Kasson  of  Iowa  replied  to  Mr.  Kelley  of  Pennsyl 
vania  touching  the  power  of  Congress  to  regulate 
suffrage  in  the  States.  Mr.  Wright  of  New  Jersey 
^opposed  the  amendment. 

On  the  30th  Mr.  Hogan  of  Missouri  spoke  in  op 
position  to  negro  suffrage.  Mr.  Le  Blond's  motion 
to  refer  the  Joint  Resolution  to  the  Committee  of 
the  whole  on  the  state  of  the  Union  was  re 
jected  by  a  vote  of  yeas  37,  nays  133. 


IN   CONGRESS.  227 

On  the  31st  the  debate  was  continued  by  Mr. 
Schenck  of  Ohio.,  Mr.  Benjamin  of  Missouri  and 
Mr.  Stevens  of  Pennsylvania.  The  question  was 
then  taken  on  Mr.  Schenck's  substitute  and  it  was 
rejected. — Yeas  29,  nays  131.  The  joint  resolu 
tion  reported  by  the  Committee  on  Eeconstruction 
was  then  adopted. — Yeas  120,  nays  46. 

The  Senate,  on  the  5th  of  February,  proceeded 
to  consider  the  Joint  Resolution  as  passed  by  the 
House  of  Representatives,  which  provided  that 
"Representatives  shall  be  apportioned  among  the 
several  States  which  may  be  included  within  this 
Union  according  to  their  respective  numbers,  count 
ing  the  whole  number  of  persons  in  each  State,  ex 
cluding  Indians  not  taxed  :  Provided,  That  when 
ever  the  elective  franchise  shall  be  denied  or 
abridged  in  any  State  on  account  of  race  or  color, 
all  persons  therein  of  such  race  or  color  shall  be 
excluded  from  the  basis  of  representation." 

Mr.  Sumner  of  Massachusetts  addressed  the  Sen 
ate  in  an  elaborate  and  exhaustive  speech.  Before 
closing  he  yielded  to  a  motion  to  adjourn.  On  the 
6th  Mr.  Sumner  resumed  the  floor  and  concluded 
his  speech.  He  opposed  the  amendment  and  main 
tained  the  constitutional  power  of  Congress  to  reg 
ulate  suffrage  in  the  States.  He  closed  by  saying  : 
"The  gospel,  according  to  Calhoun,  is  only  another 
statement  of  the  imposture,  that  this  august  Re 
public,  founded  to  sustain  the  rights  of  Human  Na 
ture,  is  nothing  but  a  c  white  man's  Government,' 


228  RECONSTRUCTION     MEASURES 


Against  this  assumption  I  protest  with  mind,  soul, 
and  heart.  It  is  false  in  religion,  false  in  states 
manship,  and  false  in  economy.  It  is  an  extrava 
gance,  which,  if  enforced,  is  foolish  tyranny.  Show 
me  a  creature,  with  erect  countenance  looking  to 
heaven,  made  in  the  image  of  God,  and  I  show  you 
a  MAN,  who,  of  whatever  country  or  race,  whether 
darkened  by  equatorial  sun  or  blanched  by  north 
ern  cold,  is  with  you  a  child  of  the  Heavenly 
Father,  and  equal  with  you  in  title  to  all  the  rights 
of  Human  Nature.  You  cannot  deny  these  rights 
without  impiety.  And  so  has  God  linked  the  na 
tional  welfare  with  national  duty,  you  cannot  deny 
these  rights  without  peril  to  the  Republic.  It  is 
not  enough  that  you  have  given  Liberty.  By  the 
same  title  that  we  claim  Liberty  do  we  claim  Equali 
ty  also.  One  cannot  be  denied  without  the  other. 
What  is  Liberty  without  Equality  ?  What  is  Equali 
ty  without  Liberty  ?  One  is  the  complement  of  the 
other.  The  two  are  necessary  to  round  and  com 
plete  the  circle  of  American  citizenship.  They  are 
the  two  lobes  of  the  mighty  lungs  through  which 
the  people  breathe  the  breath  of  life.  They  are 
the  two  vital  principles  of  a  Republican  Govern 
ment,  without  which  a  Government,  although  re 
publican  in  name,  cannot  be  republican  in  fact. 
These  two  vital  principles  belong  to  those  divine 
statutes  which  are  graven  on  the  heart  of  Univer 
sal  Man,  even  upon  the  heart  of  the  slave  who  for- 


IN    CONGRESS.  229 

gets  them,  and  upon  the  heart  of  the  master  who 
denies  them;  and  whether  forgotten  or  denied, 
they  are  more  enduring  than  marble  or  brass,  for 
they  share  the  perpetuity  of  the  Human  Family. 

The  Eoman  Cato,  after  declaring  his  belief  in 
the  immortality  of  the  soul,  added,  that  if  this 
were  an  error,  it  was  an  error  which  he  loved. 
And  now,  declaring  my  belief  in  Liberty  and 
Equality  as  the  God-given  birth-right  of  all  men, 
let  me  say,  in  the  same  spirit,  if  this  be  an  error, 
it  is  an  error  which  I  love ;  if  this  be  a  fault,  it  is 
a  fault  which  I  shah1  be  slow  to  renounce ;  if  this 
be  an  illusion,  it  is  an  illusion  which  I  pray  may 
wrap  the  world  in  its  angelic  forms." 

On  the  7th,  the  Senate  resumed  the  considera 
tion  of  the.  resolution.  Mr.  Sumner  had  offered  an 
amendment  in  the  form  of  a  bill  granting  suffrage, 
and  Mr.  Henderson  of  Missouri  moved  to  amend 
that  amendment  by  striking  out  and  inserting  "Ar 
ticle  14.  No  State,  in  prescribing  the  qualifications 
requisite  for  electors  therein,  shall  discriminate 
against  any  person  on  account  of  color  or  race." 
Mr.  Fessenden  of  Maine,  chairman  of  the  Commit 
tee  on  Reconstruction,  made  an  elaborate  speech  in 
support  of  the  amendment,  and  in  explanation  of 
the  action  of  the  reconstruction  committee.  He 
did  not  think  it  to  be  his  duty  as  a  legislator,  to 
trouble  himself  much  about  what  are  called  ab 
stractions.  His  constituents  did  not  send  him  there 
to  philosophize ;  they  sent  him  there  to  act,  to  find 


230  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

out  what  was  best  for  the  good  of  the  whole,  and 
to  do  it.  The  proposition  tended  to  produce  the 
great  result  they  wished  to  accomplish.  "It  says  to 
these  people,  to  all  people,  mind  you,  that  all  men 
should  be  equal  ?  it  says  to  all  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  'You  shall  be  represented  in  Con 
gress,  but  as  we  fear  that  you  may  be  governed  by 
narrow  views,  as  we  fear  that  you  will  do  injustice 
to  a  portion  of  the  people  under  your  charge,  and 
that  you  will  not  carry  out  the  great  principles 
which  lie  at  the  foundation  of  the  Constitution  it 
self,  and  of  all  free  and  republican  government,  we 
say  to  you  that  you  shall  not  have  political  power 
any  further  than  you  show  by  your  action  that  you 
are  disposed  to  let  all  under  your  charge  participate 
in  it." 

On  the  8th,  Mr.  Lane  of  Indiana  made  an  elo 
quent  speech  in  advocacy  of  the  constitutional 
amendment.  He  said,  "If  the  President's  plan 
means  that  we  shall  now,  here  and  to-day  open 
wide  the  doors  for  the  admission  to  these  rebel  rep 
resentatives  into  Congress,  then  I  am  against  it ;  I 
am  opposed  to  it ;  they  cannot  be  admitted  at  pres 
ent  with  benefit  to  themselves  or  safety  to  the  na 
tion,  and  the  resurrection  trump  shall  sound  the 
summons  of  these  rebels  to  the  general  judgment 
before  my  voice  or  vote  shall  summon  them  to 
these  Halls." 

On  the  9th,  Mr.  Johnson  of  Maryland  spoke  in 
opposition  to  the  amendment.  He  said,  "that  to 


IN   CONGRESS.  231 

quiet  the  country,  to  reinstate  it  in  the  prosperity 
which  it  had  and  which  it  has  temporarily  lost,  to 
bring  us  all  together  again  as  one  family,  endowed 
with  a  capacity  of  winning  a  name  which  will 
make  us  the  envy  of  the  world,  let  us  take  them 
to  our  bosom,  trust  them,  and  as  I  believe  in  my 
existence,  you  will  never  have  occasion  to  regret 
it.  You  will,  if  the  event  occurs,  look  back  to 
your  participation  in  it  in  future  time  with  unmin- 
gled  delight,  because  you  will  be  able  to  date  from 
it  a  prosperity  and  a  national  fame  of  which  the 
world  furnishes  no  example,  and  you  will  be  able 
to  date  from  it  the  absence  of  all  cause  of  differ 
ences  which  can  hereafter  exist,  which  will  keep  us 
together  as  one  people,  looking  to  one  destiny,  and 
anxious  to  achieve  one  renown." 

On  the  13th,  Mr.  Sumner  withdrew  his  amend 
ment,  and  moved  to  amend  the  original  resolution, 
so  that  all  persons  excluded  from  the  basis  of  rep 
resentation  should  be  exempt  from  taxation  of  all 
kinds.  Mr.  Henderson  of  Missouri  addressed  the 
Senate  in  an  elaborate  speech,  but  before  concluding 
gave  way  to  a  motion  to  adjourn,  and  the  next  day 
he  resumed  the  floor  and  concluded  his  speech.  He 
advocated  his  amendment  providing  that  no  dis 
tinction  should  be  made  in  the  elective  franchise 
on  account  of  color  or  race.  "  The  reasons  in  favor 
of  my  proposition,1'  he  said,  "are  inseparably  con 
nected  with  all  I  have  said.  I  need  not  repeat 
them.  Every  consideration  of  peace  demands  it. 


232  RECONSTRUCTION    MEASURES 

It  must  be  done  to  remove  the  relics  of  the  rebellion. 
It  must  be  done  to  pluck  out  political  disease  from 
the  body  politic,  and  restore  the  elementary  prin 
ciples  of  our  government.  It  must  be  done  to 
preserve  peace  in  the  States  and  harmony  in  our 
Federal  system.  It  must  be  done  to  assure  the 
happiness  and  prosperity  of  the  southern  people 
themselves.  It  must  be  done  to  establish  in  our 
institutions  the  principles  of  universal  justice.  It 
must  be  done  to  secure  the  strongest  possible  guar 
antees  against  future  wars.  It  must  be  done  in  obe 
dience  to  that  golden  rule  which  insists  upon  doing 
to  others  what  we  would  that  others  should  do  unto 
us.  It  must  be  done  if  we  would  obey  the  moral 
law  that  teaches  us  to  love  our  neighbors  as  our 
selves.  In  fine,  it  must  be  done  to  purify,  strength 
en,  and  perpetuate  a  government,  in  which  are  now 
fondly  centered  the  best  hopes  of  mankind."  Mr. 
Clarke  of  New  Hampshire  spoke  earnestly  and  elo 
quently  in  favor  of  the  joint  resolution.  "Tell 
me,"  he  said,  "why  two  hundred  thousand  black 
men,  most  of  whom  volunteered  to  fight  your  bat 
tles,  should  not  be  permitted  to  participate  in  that 
Government  which  they  helped  to  preserve  ?  When 
you  enlisted  and  mustered  these  men,  when  your 
Adjutant  General  went  South  and  gathered  them 
to  the  recruiting  office,  and  persuaded  them  to  join 
your  ranks,  did  he,  or  any  one,  tell  them  this  was 
the  white  man's  Government  ?  When  they  came 
to  the  rendezvous  did  you  point  to  the  sign  over 
the  door,  f$g^"'  Black  men  wanted  to  defend  the 


IN   CONGRESS.  233 

white  man's  Government?*  When  you  put  upon 
them  the  uniform  of  the  United  States,  did  you 
say,  ' Don't  disgrace  it;  this  is  the  white  man's 
Government?'  When  they  toiled  on  the  march, 
in  the  mud,  the  rain,  and  the  snow,  and  when  they 
fell  out  of  the  ranks  from  sheer  weariness,  did  you 
cheer  them  on  with  the  encouragement  'that  this 
is  the  white  man's  government  ? ' 

When  they  stood  on  picket  on  the  cold,  stormy 
night  to  guard  you  against  surprise,  did  you  creep 
up  and  warm  their  congealing  blood  with  an  infu 
sion  of  the  white  man's  government  ?  When,  with 
a  wild  hurrah,  on  the  '  double  quick,'  they  rushed 
upon  the  enemy's  guns,  and  bore  your  flag  where 
men  fell  fastest,  and  war  made  its  wildest  havoc, 
where  explosion  after  explosion  sent  their  mangled 
bodies  and  severed  limbs  flying  through  the  air, 
and  they  fell  on  glacis,  ditch,  and  scarp  and  coun 
terscarp,  did  you  caution  them  against  such  brave 
ry,  and  remind  them  that  'this  was  the  white  man's 
government  ? '  And  when  the  struggle  was  over, 
and  many  had  fought  '  their  last  battle,'  and  you 
gathered  the  dead  for  burial,  did  you  exclaim, 
'Poor  fools!  how  cheated !  this  is  the  white  man's 
Government?'  No,  no,  sir;  you  beckoned  them  on 
by  the  guerdon  of  freedom,  the  blessings  of  an 
equal  and  just  Government,  and  a  'good  time  com 
ing.'" 

On  the  15th,  Mr.  Williams  of  Oregon  addressed 
the  Senate  in  favor  of  the  resolution.  "I  know/7 


234  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

he  said,  "that  history  teaches  that  acts  of  magna 
nimity  on  the  part  of  the  conqueror  toward  the  con 
quered  will  tend  to  conciliate  and  make  peace ;  but 
it  seems  sometimes  as  though  history  was  at  fault 
as  to  these  people,  and  as  though  there  was  nothing 
that  would  touch  their  hearts  or  their  actions  but 
the  irresistible  power  of  the  Federal  Government, 
the  gleam  of  its  flashing  swords,  and  the  glitter  of 
its  conquering  bayonets.  Sir,  this  nation  is  to  live, 
and  not  die.  God  has  written  it  among  the  shining 
decrees  of  destiny.  Inspired  by  this  hope,  and  an 
imated  by  this  faith,  we  will  take  this  country 
through  all  its  present  troubles  and  perils  to  the 
promised  land  of  perfect  unity  and  peace,  where 
freedom,  equality  and  justice,  the  triune  and  tute 
lar  deity  of  the  American  Eepublic,  will  rule  with 
righteousness  a  nation  '  whose  walls  shall  be  salva 
tion,  and  whose  gates  praise.' " 

Mr.  Hendricks  of  Indiana,  on  the  16th,  opposed 
the  amendment.  He  did  not  wish  to  make  colored 
people  voters.  He  said :  "I  am  not  going  to  discuss 
the  question  whether  the  colored  man  is  the  equal 
of  the  white  man.  I  think  there  need  be  no  dis 
cussion  on  a  question  like  that.  But  without  refer 
ence  to  that,  without  reference  to  the  question  of 
equality,  I  say  that  we  are  not  of  the  same  race ; 
we  are  so  different  that  we  ought  not  to  compose 
one  political  community.  Had  the  white  men  of 
this  country  a  right  to  establish  a  Government,  and 
thereby  a  political  community  ?  If  so,  they  had  a 


IN    CONGEESS.  235 

right  to  say  who  should  be  members  of  that  politi 
cal  community.  They  had  a  right  to  exclude  the 
colored  man  if  they  saw  fit.  Sir,  I  say,  in  the  lan 
guage  of  the  lamented  Douglass,  and  in  the  lan 
guage  of  President  Johnson,  this  is  the  white  man's 
Government,  made  by  the  white  man  for  the  white 
man.  I  am  not  ashamed  to  stand  behind  such  dis 
tinguished  men  in  maintaining  a  sentiment  like 
that." 

On  the  19th,  Mr.  Howard  of  Michigan  submitted 
an  amendment  granting  the  right  of  voting  to  the 
following  persons  of  African  descent,  citizens  of  the 
United    States,   namely,  all   males   of  the  age  of 
twenty-one  who  have  been  enrolled  in  the  army  or 
navy ;  all  males  of  like  age  able  to  read  and  write ; 
all  males  of  like  age  in  the  possession  of  property 
of  the  value  of  $250.     And  Congress  shall,  in  de 
fault  of  State  laws  necessary  to  carry  into  effect 
this  provision,  have  full  power  so  to  do  by  legisla 
tion  applicable  to  all  the  States.  Mr.Yates  of  Illinois 
pronounced   in   favor   of    universal   suffrage.     He 
maintained  that  the  ballot  alone  would  give  the 
nation  a  peaceful  and  harmonious  South.     It  would 
quench  the  fires  of  discord,  give  back  all  the  States, 
make  a  restored  Union  and  one  people.     He  closed 
by  saying:    "Senators,  sixty  centuries  of  the  past 
are  looking  down  upon  you.     All  the  centuries  of 
the  future  are   calling  upon  you.     Liberty,  strug 
gling  amid  the  rise  and  wrecks  of  empires  in  the 
past,  and  yet  to  struggle  for  life  in  all  the  nations 


236  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

of  the  world,  conjures  you  to  seize  this  great  op 
portunity  which  the  providence  of  Almighty  God 
has  placed  in  your  hands  to  bless  the  world  and 
make  your  names  immortal,  to  carry  to  a  full  and 
triumphant  consummation  the-  great  work  begun 
by  your  fathers,  and  thus  lay  permanently,  solidly, 
and  immovably  the  cap-stone  upon  the  pyramid  of 
human  liberty." 

Mr.  Buckalew  of  Pennsylvania,  on  the  21st, 
spoke  against  the  amendment.  He  denounced  the 
representation  of  New  England  in  the  Senate  as 
potent  and  pernicious,  and  suggested  as  a  remedy, 
an  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  readjusting  sen 
atorial  representation.  Mr.  Wilson  of  Massachu 
setts  said  in  reply  to  Mr.  Buckalew:  "Thousands 
of  millions  of  money  have  been  expended,  and 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  brave  men  have  bled  for 
the  uiiity  and  liberty  of  the  Republic.  I  desire — 
my  associates  from  New  England  desire — to  see 
these  vacant  chairs  filled  at  an  early  day  by  the 
representatives  of  the  States  that  rebelled  and 
rushed  into  civil  war.  We  will  welcome  them 
here ;  but  before  they  come  it  is  of  vital  impor 
tance  to  the  country,  to  the  people  of  all  sections, 
to  the  interests  of  all,  that  all  disturbing  questions 
should  be  forever  adjusted,  and  so  adjusted  as  never 
again  to  disturb  the  unity  and  peace  of  the  coun 
try.  It  is  now  the  time  to  settle  forever  all  matters 
that  can  cause  estrangement  and  sectional  agita 
tions  and  divisions  in  the  future.  Nothing  should 


IN   CONGRESS.  237 

be  left  to  bring  dissensions,  and,  it  may  be,  civil 
war  again  upon  our  country.  The  blood  poured 
out  to  suppress  the  rebellion  must  not  be  shed  in 
vain.  I  hope,  and  I  know  the  Senators  from  New 
England  ardently  hope,  for  the  speedy  adjustment 
of  all  matters  between  the  different  sections  of  the 
country. 

The  Senators  from  New  England,  unlike  the  Sen 
ator  from  Pennsylvania,  remained  not  silent  during 
the  great  civil  war  through  which  the  nation  has 
passed.  They  have  spoken ;  they  have  spoken  for 
the  unity  of  their  country  and  the  freedom  of  all 
men.  They  have  spoken  for  their  country,  their 
whole  country,  and  for  the  rights  of  all  its  people 
of  every  race.  Their  past  is  secure,  and  the  impu 
tations  of  the  Senator  from  Pennsylvania,  will  pass 
harmless  by  them." 

On  the  31st  Mr.  Pomeroy  of  Kansas  addressed 
the  Senate  in  an  elaborate  speech  in  favor  of  uni 
versal  suffrage.  He  was  opposed  to  doing  anything 
by  induction ;  he  was  in  favor  of  the  amendment 
proposed  by  the  Senator  from  Missouri,  or  of  any 
legislation  under  the  late  amendment  to  the  consti 
tution. 

Mr.  Saulsbury  on  the  6th  spoke  in- opposition  to 
the  amendment,  and  on  the  7th  Mr.  Sumner  spoke 
at  great  length  in  opposition  to  the  amendment. 
He  said :  "  The  proposition  is  as  hardy  as  it  is  gi 
gantic  ;  for  it  takes  no  account  of  the  moral  sense 
of  mankind,  which  is  the  same  as  if  in  rearing  a 


238  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

monument  we  took  no  account  of  the  law  of  grav 
itation.  It  is  the  paragon  and  master-piece  of  in 
gratitude,  showing  more  than  any  other  act  of  his 
tory  what  is  so  often  charged  and  we  so  fondly 
deny,  that  republics  are  ungrateful.  The  freedmen 
ask  for  bread,  and  you  send  them  a  stone.  With 
piteous  voice  they  ask  for  protection.  You  thrust 
them  back  unprotected  into  the  cruel  den  of  their 
former  masters.  Such  an  attempt,  thus  bad  as  bad 
can  be ;  thus  abortive  for  all  good ;  thus  perilous ; 
thus  pregnant  with  a  war  of  race  upon  race ;  thus 
shocking  to  the  moral  sense,  and  thus  treacherous 
to  those  whom  we  are  bound  to  protect,  cannot  be 
otherwise  than  shameful.  Adopt  it,  and  you  will 
cover  the  country  with  dishonor.  Adopt  it,  and 
you  will  fix  a  stigma  upon  the  very  name  of  Re 
public.  As  to  the  imagination,  there  are  mountains 
of  light,  so  are  there  mountains  of  darkness ;  and 
this  is  one  of  them.  It  is  the  very  Koh-i-noor  of 
blackness." 

Mr.  Doolittle  expressed  the  opinion  that  when 
the  next  census  should  be  taken,  two-fifths  of  the 
colored  population  would  be  under  the  ground.  It 
was  an  appalling  fact,  but  he  believed  it  to  be  as 
true  as  holy  writ.  On  the  8th  Mr.  Morrill  of  Maine 
spoke  for  the  amendment.  "I  hail,"  he  said,  "with 
something  like  a  sense  of  gratitude  the  proposition 
of  the  committee  on  reconstruction,  because  it 
recognizes  at  least  the  great  fundamental  principle 
of  American  constitutional  law  and  liberty,  that  re- 


IN    CONGRESS.  239 

presentation  in  the  national  councils  ought  to  be 
based  on  citizenship,  and  so  far  as  the  national  coun 
cils  are  concerned  it  shall  rest  nowhere  else.  That 
is  the  significance  of  this  proposition.  Contemplat 
ing  it  in  that  view  I  content  myself  to  vote  for  it, 
although  I  think  it  inadequate  to  the  immediate 
exigency  of  the  times.  I  would  much  prefer  to 
say  to  these  States,  '  If  you  desire  to  be  represented 
at  all  in  these  Halls  you  shall  do  equal  and  exact 
justice  to  all  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  with 
out  regard  to  color/  That  is  the  mandate  that 
should  go  forth  from  these  Halls.  That  is  the  equal 
and  exact  justice  which  this  nation  should  hold  out 
to  these  men,  but  recently  the  enemies  of  the  na 
tion  in  arms,  before  they  should  be  permitted  to  set 
their  feet  in  these  Chambers  to  represent  them 
selves." 

Mr.  Wilson  said  there  were  indications  not  to  be 
mistaken,  that  this  amendment  was  doomed  to  de 
feat  ;  that  result  would  be  to  him  a  subject  of  sin 
cere  and  profound  regret.  His  heart,  his  conscience 
and  his  judgment  approved  of  the  amendment,  and 
he  supported  it  without  qualification  or  reservation. 
He  believed  that  suffrage  was  a  weapon  of  self- 
protection  and  it  ought  to  be  granted  to  the  freed- 
men.  He  said:  "If  after  having  called  one  hun 
dred  and  eighty  thousand  men  of  the  colored  race, 
native-born  American  citizens,  to  fight  our  battles, 
after  the  aid  they  have  given  us,  after  they  refused 
to  take  the  musket  for  the  defense  of  the  confed- 


240  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

eracy  when  the  confederacy  appealed  to  them  to  do 
it,  if  we  refuse  to  extend  to  them  the  suffrage,  the 
weapon  of  protection,  it  will  bring  upon  this  nation, 
as  slavery  brought  upon  it,  the  curse  of  an  offended 
God.  I  believe  in  the  years  to  come  we  shall  be 
punished  for  it  as  we  have  been  punished  for  four 
weary  years  with  fire  and  blood  and  death  for  two 
centuries  of  oppression.  These  States  summoned 
the  black  man  to  fight  the  battles  of  the  endanger 
ed  country,  put  the  musket  in  his  hands,  gazed  with 
beaming  eye  upon  his  glittering  steel,  and  heard  the 
inspiring  music  of  his  tramp  as  he  moved  away  to 
fight,  bleed,  die,  that  the  nation  might  live,  and  saw 
those  men  come  back  maimed  and  wounded.  And 
yet,  after  all  the  fidelity  and  heroic  conduct  of  these 
men,  prejudice,  party  spirit,  and  conservatism,  and 
all  that  is  base  and  mean  on  earth  combine  to  deny 
the  right  of  suffrage  to  the  brave  soldier  of  the 
Republic.  God  alone  can  forgive  such  meanness ; 
humanity  cannot.  After  what  has  taken  place,  is 
taking  place,  I  cannot  hope  that  the  constitutional 
amendment  proposed  by  the  Senator  from  Missouri 
will  receive  a  majority  of  three-fourths  of  the  votes 
of  the  States.  I  therefore  cannot  risk  the  cause  of 
an  emancipated  race  upon  it.  In  the  present  con 
dition  of  the  nation  we  must  aim  at  practical  re 
sults,  not  to  establish  political  theories,  however 
beautiful  and  alluring  they  may  be." 

On  the  9th  of  March  Mr.  Fessenden  closed  the 
debate,  speaking  chiefly  in  reply  to  Mr.  Sumner ; 


IN   CONGRESS.  241 

he  thought  it  to  be  his  duty  to  obtain  as  much  as 
possible,  and  he  therefore  supported  this  proposi 
tion,  although  it  came  short  of  what  he  desired. 
The  debate  was  farther  continued  by  Mr.  Sumner, 
Mr.  Wilson,  Mr.  McDougall  and  Mr.  Henderson. 
Mr.  Conness  intended  to  vote  for  the  original  pro 
position  and  should  therefore  vote  against  the  sev 
eral  amendments  without  reference  to  their  merits. 
The  vote  was  then  taken  on  Mr.  Henderson's 
amendment,  providing  that  no  State  should  discrim 
inate  against  any  person  in  the  elective  franchise 
on  account  of  color  or  race,  and  it  was  rejected. — 
Yeas  10,  nays  37.  The  question  then  recurring  on 
Mr.  Sumner's  amendment — that  there  should  be  no 
oligarchy,  aristocracy,  caste  or  monoply  invested 
with  peculiar  privileges  and  powers  and  no  denial 
of  rights,  civil  or  political,  on  account  of  color  or 
race,  but  all  persons  should  be  equal  before  the  law, 
in  the  court-room  or  at  the  ballot-box.  Mr.  Clark 
of  New  Hampshire  moved  to  amend  by  striking 
out  and  inserting  an  amendment  basing  represen 
tation  on  suffrage.  This  amendment  was  discussed 
by  Mr.  Creswell,  Mr.  Anthony  and  Mr.  Johnson. 
Mr.  Cowan  stated  his  objection  to  any  amendment 
of  the  Constitution  concerning  suffrage.  "It  strikes," 
he  said,  "at  the  very  vital  part  of  the  Constitution; 
it  strikes  at  that  very  part  which  is  essential  to  the 
whole ;  it  destroys  the  freedom  of  the  States ;  it 
destroys  the  Republican  form  of  government  of  the 
States."  Mr.  Clark  withdrew  his  amendment,  and 
16 


242  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

Mr.  Sunlner  made  a  slight  modification  of  his 
amendment.  The  vote  was  taken  upon  it  and  it 
was  rejected. — Yeas  8,  nays  39.  On  motion  of  Mr. 
Clark  of  New  Hampshire  the  original  resolution 
was  amended. — Yeas  26,  nays  20.  Mr.  Yates  then 
moved  to  strike  out  the  original  resolution  and  in 
sert  :  "  That  no  State  or  Territory  shall  by  any  con 
stitution,  law,  or  other  regulation,  make  or  enforce 
in  any  way,  or  in  any  manner  recognize  any  dis 
tinction  between  citizens  on  account  of  race  or 
color  or  previous  condition  of  slavery;  and  that 
hereafter  all  citizens,  without  distinction  of  race, 
color,  or  previous  condition  of  slavery,  shall  be  pro 
tected  in  the  full  and  equal  enjoyment  and  exercise 
of  all  their  civil  and  political  rights, .  including  the 
right  of  suffrage."  It  was  rejected — Yeas  8,  nays 
38.  Mr.  Doolittle  then  moved  as  a  substitute  a 
section  basing  representation  on  qualified  voters- 
rejected. — Yeas  12,  nays  31.  Mr.  Sumner  then 
moved  to  amend  by  striking  out  a  portion  of  the 
original  resolution,  and  inserting  a  provision  that 
the  elective  franchise  should  not  be  denied  or 
abridged  in  any  State  on  account  of  race  or  color. 
The  amendment  was  rejected. — Yeas  8,  nays  38. 
Mr.  Sumner  then  moved  that  all  persons  denied  the 
right  of  suffrage  should  be  exempted  from  taxation 
of  all  kinds;  the  amendment  was  rejected.  The 
question  was  then  taken  on  the  passage  of  the  joint 
resolution — Yeas  25,  nays  22 — two- thirds  of  the 
Senators  not  having  voted  for  the  resolution,  it  was 


IN   CONGRESS.  243 

rejected.  On  motion  of  Mr.  Henderson  the  Senate 
reconsidered  the  vote  rejecting  the  resolution.  Mr. 
Doolittle  then  moved  an  amendment  as  a  substitute 
basing  representation  on  qualified  voters,  and  Mr. 
Sherman  moved  a  substitute  for  the  same. 

On  the  12th  Mr.  Grimes  and  Mr.  Sumner  intro 
duced  amendments,  being  modifications  of  the 
amendment  introduced  in  the  House  by  Mr.  Broom- 
all  of  Pennsylvania,  which  provided  that  whenever 
male  citizens  should  be  excluded  from  suffrage  in 
any  State,  the  representation  should  be  reduced  in 
the  proportion  which  the  number  excluded  bears  to 
the  whole  number  of  citizens.  Mr.  "Wilson  intro 
duced  an  amendment  to  Mr.  Doolittle's  amendment 
basing  representation  on  qualified  voters.  Mr. 
Wilson's  amendment  provided  that  representation 
should  be  based  on  the  number  of  male  citizens 
over  twenty-one  years  of  age  having  the  qualifica 
tions  for  electors,  and  persons  of  like  age  not  nat 
uralized.  The  original  joint  resolution  and  amend 
ments  were  not  again  considered  by  the  Senate. 


CHAPTER   XL 

AMENDMENT  TO  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

Mr.  Steven^  report  from  Joint  Committee.— The  amendment.— Speech  of 
Mr.  Stevens.— Remarks  of  Mr.  Garfield,  Mr.  Thayer,  Mr.  Boyer,  Mr. 
Schenck,  Mr.  Broomall,  Mr.  Raymond,  Mr.  Boutwell,  Mr.  Spaulding. — 
Speech  of  Mr.  Eliot. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Dawes. — Resolution  passed  the 
House. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Howard. — Mr.  Wade's  Amendment. — Mr.  Wil 
son's  amendment. — Mr.  Clark's  amendment. — Mr.  Buckalew's  amend 
ment. — Mr.  Howard's  amendment. — Mr.  Doolittle's  amendment  to  Mr. 
Howard's  amendment  rejected. — Mr.  Van  Winkle's  motion  to  amend. — 
Speech  of  Mr.  Poland,  Mr.  Howe,  Mr.  Johnson. — Mr.  Yates'  amend 
ment. — Motion  of  Mr.  Clark. — Mr.  Fessenden's  amendment. — Passage 
of  the  Resolution. 

IN  the  House  of  Representatives  on  the  30th  of 
April,  1866,  Mr.  Stevens  of  Pennsylvania,  from  the 
Joint  select  Committee  on  Reconstruction  reported 
a  joint  resolution  proposing  an  amendment  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States.  The  amend 
ment  proposed  provided  that  : — 

SEC.  1.  No  State  shall  make  or  enforce  any  law 
which  shall  abridge  the  privileges  or  immunities  of 
citizens ;  nor  deprive  any  person  of  life,  liberty,  or 
property  without  due  process  of  law ;  nor  deny  to 
any  person  the  equal  protection  of  the  laws. 

SEC.  2.  Representatives  shall  be  apportioned 
among  the  States  according  to  their  respective  num- 


IN    CONGRESS.  245 

bers,  counting  the  whole  number  of  persons,  ex 
cluding  Indians  not  taxed.  But  whenever,  in  any 
State,  the  elective  franchise  shall  be  denied  to  any 
male  citizens  not  less  than  twenty-one  years  of  age, 
or  in  any  way  abridged  except  for  participation  in 
rebellion  or  other  crime,  the  basis  of  representation 
in  such  States  shall  be  reduced  in  the  proportion 
which  the  number  of  such  male  citizens  shall  bear 
to  the  whole  number  of  male  citizens  not  less  than 
twenty-one  years  of  age. 

SEC.  3.  Until  the  4th  day  of  July,  in  the  year 
1870,  all  persons  who  voluntarily  adhered  to  the 
late  insurrection,  shall  be  excluded  from  the  right 
to  vote  for  Eepresentatives,  and  for  President  and 
Vice  President  of  the  United  States. 

SEC.  4.  Neither  the  United  States  nor  any  State 
shall  assume  or  pay  any  debt  or  obligation  already 
incurred,  or  which  may  be  incurred,  in  aid  of  insur 
rection  against  the  United  States,  or  any  claim  for 
compensation  for  loss  of  involuntary  service. 

SEC.  5.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce, 
by  appropriate  legislation,  the  provisions  of  this 
article. 

On  the  8th  of  May  the  House  proceeded  to  con 
sider  the  joint  resolution,  and  Mr.  Stevens  addressed 
the  House  in  its  support.  He  said  the  proposition 
was  not  all  the  committee  desired.  "It  falls,"  he 
said,  "far  short  of  my  wishes,  but  it  fulfills  my  hopes. 
I  believe  it  is  all  that  can  be  obtained  in  the  present 
state  of  public  opinion.  Not  only  Congress  but  the 


246  RECONSTRUCTION  MEASURES 

several  States  are  to  be  consulted.  Upon  a  careful 
survey  of  the  whole  ground,  we  did  not  believe  that 
nineteen  of  the  loyal  States  could  be  induced  to 
ratify  any  proposition  more  stringent  than  this.  I 
say  nineteen,  for  I  utterly  repudiate  and  scorn  the 
idea  that  any  State  not  acting  in  the  Union  is  to 
be  counted  on  the  question  of  ratification.  It  is 
absurd  to  suppose  that  any  more  than  three-fourths 
of  the  States  that  propose  the  amendment  are  re 
quired  to  make  it  valid ;  that  States  not  here  are 
to  be  counted  as  present.  Believing,  then,  that  this 
is  the  best  proposition  that  can  be  made  effectual, 
I  accept  it.  I  shall  not  be  driven  by  clamor  or  de 
nunciation  to  throw  away  a  great  good  because  it 
is  not  perfect.  I  will  take  all  I  can  get  in  the  cause 
of  humanity  and  leave  it  to  be  perfected  by  better 
men  in  better  times.  It  may  be  that  that  time  will 
not  come  while  I  am  here  to  enjoy  the  glorious 
triumph  ;  but  that  it  will  come  is  as  certain  as  that 
there  is  a  just  God." 

Referring  to  the  constitutional  amendment  which 
had  been  rejected  in  the  Senate,  he  expressed  his 
mortification  at  its  defeat.  "It  was  defeated,"  he 
said,  "by  the  united  forces  of  self-righteous  Repub 
licans  and  unrighteous  Copperheads.  It  was  slaugh 
tered  by  a  puerile  and  pedantic  criticism,  by  a  per 
version  of  philological  definition  which,  if  when  I 
taught  school,  a  lad  who  had  studied  Lindley  Mur 
ray  had  assumed,  I  would  have  expelled  from  the 
institution  as  unfit  to  waste  education  upon."  He 


IN   CONGRESS.  24:7 

expressed  the  hope  that  the  present  proposition, 
less  efficient  he  admitted,  than  the  one  rejected  by 
the  Senate,  would  be  adopted.  "  That  article  refer 
red  to  provided  that  if  one  of  the  injured  race  was 
excluded  the  State  should  forfeit  the  right  to  have 
any  of  them  represented.  That  would  have  hasten 
ed  their  full  enfranchisement.  This  section  allows 
the  States  to  discriminate  among  the  same  class, 
and  receive  proportionate  credit  in  representation. 
This  I  dislike.  But  it  is  a  short  step  forward.  The 
large  stride  which  we  in  vain  proposed  is  dead ;  the 
murderers  must  answer  to  the  suffering  race.  I 
would  not  have  been  the  perpetrator.  A  load  of 
misery  must  sit  heavy  on  their  souls." 

Mr.  Finck  of  Ohio  followed  in  opposition  to  the 
amendment,  which,  he  denounced  as  a  monstrous 
and  revolutionary  scheme.  He  thought  the  time 
had  come  when  the  feelings  of  sectional  hate  and 
animosity  should  give  way  to  the  higher  and  nobler 
principles  of  magnanimity,  of  kindness,  conciliation 
and  true  charity.  Mr.  Garfield  of  Ohio  said  that 
he  believed  the  right  to  vote,  if  not  one  of  the 
natural  rights  of  men,  was  so  necessary  to  the  pro 
tection  of  their  natural  rights,  as  to  be  indispensa 
ble  and  therefore  e§qual  to  natural  rights. 

Mr.  Thayer  of  Pennsylvania  trusted  that  the  pro 
ceedings  of  the  House  that  day  would  silence  at 
once  and  forever  the  clamorous  calumnies  indus 
triously  propagated  by  designing  persons,  that  Con 
gress  had  no  intention  of  taking  any  steps  for  the 


248  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

restoration  of  peace  and  concord  to  the  whole  coun 
try.  Mr.  Boyer  of  Pennsylvania  said  that  the  late 
rebellious  States,  exhausted  by  an  unequal  strife, 
conquered  by  overwhelming  numbers,  lay  prostrate 
at  the  feet  of  the  federal  power,  their  population 
decimated  and  impoverished,  their  resources  crip 
pled  and  the  cause  for  which  they  fought  so  madly 
and  suffered  so  much,  hopelessly  and  forever  lost. 
He  was  for  the  admission  of  Senators  and  Repre 
sentatives.  "Every  hour,"  he  said,  "during  which 
we  govern  the  eleven  States  with  their  twelve  mil 
lion  people  as  conquered  provinces,  carries  us  fur 
ther  away  from  the  original  landmarks  of  the  Con 
stitution,  and  brings  us  nearer  to  centralization  and 
military  despotism." 

Mr.  Schenck  of  Ohio  followed  in  support  of  the 
amendment,  and  especially  that  provision  excluding 
rebels  from  participation  in  the  government.  The 
debate  was  further  continued  by  Mr.  Kelley  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  Mr.  Smith  of  Kentucky.  On  the 
9th  the  debate  was  resumed  by  Mr.  Broomall  of 
Pennsylvania  in  favor  of  the  amendment.  Mr. 
Shanklin  of  Kentucky  followed  in  opposition  to 
the  amendment.  He  demanded  that  the  Joint 
Committee  on  Reconstruction  should  be  discharged, 
the  Freedmen's  Bureau  abolished,  the  Civil  Rights 
bill  repealed,  and  Senators  and  Representatives  from 
rebel  States  admitted. 

Mr.  Raymond  of  New  York  advocated  the  amend 
ment  with  the  exception  of  the  provision  excluding 


IN    CONGRESS.  249 

rebels  from  the  right  of  suffrage  until  the  year 
1870:  he  said,  "if  history  teaches  anything,  if  any 
principle  is  established  by  the  concurrent  annals  of 
all  nations  and  all  ages,  it  is  that  sentiment  cannot 
be  coerced ;  that  opinions,  even,  cannot  be  con 
trolled  by  force ;  and  that  with  any  people  fit  to 
be  free  or  to  be  the  countrymen  of  men  who  are 
free,  all  such  efforts  defeat  themselves  and  intensify 
and  perpetuate  the  hostilities  sought  to  be  over 


come." 


Mr.  McKee  of  Kentucky  desired  that  the  loyal 
alone  should  rule  the  country  which  they  alone  had 
saved.  He  desired  that  the  widows  and  orphans 
of  the  slain  soldiers  of  the  Kepublic  should  be 
spared  the  insult  of  having  traitors  make  laws  for 
them.  The  amendment  was  opposed  by  Mr.  El- 
dridge  of  Wisconsin.  He  expected  that  it  would 
be  long  years  before  these  bloody  days  would  be 
forgotten  either  in  the  north  or  in  the  south,  but 
the  sooner  they  forgot  and  forgave,  the  better  it 
would  be  for  the  nation.  Mr.  Boutwell  of  Massa 
chusetts  was  for  a  Union  and  for  that  Union  only 
in  which  there  was  substantial  justice  among  the 
men  and  between  the  States  composing  it.  He  said 
that  every  traitor  in  the  South,  and  every  sympa 
thizer  with  treason  in  the  North,  sustained  the 
policy  of  the  Democratic  party  and  of  the  Presi 
dent.  "We  are,"  he  said,  "the  conservative,  the 
order-seeking,  the  Union-loving,  the  loyal  men  of 
the  country.  They  who  oppose  measures  for  the 


250  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

pacification  of  the  country  with  reference  to  the 
rights  of  the  States  and  the  rights  of  men  are  the 
disorganizes,  the  disloyal  and  dangerous  men  of 
this  Republic." 

Mr.  Spalding  of  Ohio,  believing  in  the  patriotism, 
wisdom  and  sagacity  of  the  Committee  on  Recon 
struction,  would  vote  for  one  and  all  of  their  propo 
sitions.  The  amendment  was  further  advocated  by 
Mr.  Miller  of  Pennsylvania.  He  expressed  his 
great  gratification  that  Mr.  Stevens  had  consented 
to  forego  some  of  his  own  views  to  meet  those  of 
his  Republican  friends  in  the  House. 

"I  can  have  no  doubt,"  said  Mr.  Eliot  of  Massa 
chusetts,  "that  the  duty  is  laid  upon  us  by  events 
which  we  could  not  control  so  to  legislate  that  the 
restored  Union  shall  be  perpetual.  Our  people  de 
mand  this  now  at  our  hands.  The  responsibility  is 
fearful,  but  it  is  glorious  too,  if  only  we  do  right. 
Never  had  any  Congress  such  questions  to  deter 
mine.  They  enter  into  the  whole  future  life  of  the 
Republic.  We  have  seen  the  false  corner-stone 
knocked  from  beneath  the  temple.  It  must  be  re 
placed  by  a  corner-stone  of  righteousness,  solid  and 
square  and  true.  And  that  work  is  in  our  hands, 
and  it  must  be  done."  The  debate  was  further  con 
tinued  by  Mr.  Shellabarger  of  Ohio,  Mr.  Wilson  of 
Iowa  and  Mr.  Raymond  of  New  York. 

On  the  10th  the  debate  was  resumed  by  Mr. 
Randall  of  Pennsylvania.  He  predicted  that  the 
great  conservative  men  of  the  country  would,  under 


IN   CONGRESS.  251 

the  lead  of  the  President,  come  into  possession  of 
the  government.  Mr.  Strouse  of  Pennsylvania 
briefly  opposed  the  amendment.  Mr.  Banks  of  Mas 
sachusetts  said  that  anything  that  left  the  basis  of 
political  society  in  the  southern  States  untouched, 
left  the  enemy  in  condition  to  renew  the  war  at  his 
pleasure,  and  gave  him  absolute  power  to  destroy 
the  government  whenever  he  chose.  No  proposi 
tion  would  meet  his  entire  approval  that  did  not 
propose  a  radical  change  in  the  basis  of  political 
society  in  the  southern  States.  "It  is  but  just,"  he 
said,  "that  they  should  be  restricted  to  a  fair  share 
of  representative  power.  But  they  do  not  seek  to 
govern  by  opinion.  They  do  not  rely  on  ideas  for 
success.  They  govern  by  force.  Their  philosophy 
is  force.  Their  tradition  is  force.  Whether  they 
be  few  or  many,  they  will  have  power  whenever 
they  are  restored  here.  While,  therefore,  sir,  I  ac 
cord  cheerfully  with  the  proposition,  it  does  not 
meet  the  emergency  presented  at  this  time." 

Mr.  Eckley  of  Ohio  maintained  that  there  was  a 
necessity  for  a  fundamental  change  of  the  law  of 
the  land.  Mr.  Finck,  his  colleague,  had,  he  said, 
sounded  the  alarm  at  the  proposition.  "The  old 
ship,"  he  said,  "has  outrode  worse  storms  than  he 
and  his  colleagues  can  invoke  from  the  people  of 
the  South,  and  she  will  outride  this ;  and  we  shall, 
I  hope,  all  live  to  see  the  day  when  this  proposition 
shall  become  a  part  of  the  Constitution,  with  the 
same  acquiescence  of  its  predecessor,  that,  like  this 


252  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

one,  was  born  amid  the  storms  of  southern  rebels 
and  northern  copperheads." 

Mr.  Longyear  of  Michigan  expressed  the  hope 
that  the  sword  of  justice  would  continue  to  hang 
over  the  portals  of  these  halls,  and  no  traitor  would 
be  allowed  to  pass  their  thresholds.  He  was  fol 
lowed  by  Mr.  Beaman  of  the  same  State,  who  ex 
pressed  his  intention  to  move  to  strike  out  the  third 
section  of  the  amendment  and  insert  a  provision 
excluding  certain  classes  of  rebels  from  holding 
office. 

Mr.  Eogers  of  New  Jersey  denounced  the  amend 
ment  as  an  indirect  way  of  inflicting  negro  suffrage 
•upon  the  people  of  the  South.  "  God  deliver  this 
people,"  he  exclaimed,  "God  deliver  this  people 
from  such  a  wicked,  odious,  pestilent  despotism ! 
God  save  the  people  of  the  South  from  the  degra 
dation  by  which  they  would  be  obliged  to  go  to  the 
polls  and  vote  side  by  side  with  the  negro ! " 

The  amendment  was  supported  by  Mr.  Farns- 
worth  of  Illinois.  "The  whole  copperhead  frater 
nity,"  he  said,  "applaud  the  President.  Kebels 
South  and  sympathizers  with  rebellion  North  glorify 
Andrew  Johnson  ;  the  devilish  company  of  traitors 
praise  him ;  the  confederates  of  Booth  and  Payne 
praise  him ;  the  importers  of  poisoned  clothing 
praise  him ;  the  glorious  company  of  Jeff.  Davis, 
his  cabinet,  his  congress,  his  generals,  with  all  the 
enemies  of  freedom  in  our  own  land,  glorify  him ; 
and  the  enemies  of  liberty  and  republican  insti- 


IN   CONGRESS.  253 

tutions  throughout  the  world,  all  who  were  on 
the  side  of  the  rebellion  and  against  us  throughout 
the  war,  praise  and  magnify  his  name." 

Mr.  Dawes  of  Massachusetts  would  give  the 
measure,  with  the  exception  of  the  3d  section,  his 
hearty  support,  but  he  would  vote  for  the  amend 
ment,  even  if  he  could  not  get  that  section  exclud 
ed.  Mr.  Bingham  of  Ohio  said :  "I  trust,  Mr. 
Speaker,  that  after  the  roll  shall  have  been  called 
this  day,  and  the  departing  sun  shall  have  gilded 
with  its  last  rays  the  dome  of  the  Capitol,  it  will 
not  be  recorded  by  the  pen  of  the  historian  that 
the  sad  hour  had  come  to  this  great  Republic  which, 
in  the  day  of  its  approaching  dissolution,  came  to 
the  republic  of  ancient  Eome,  when  it  was  said 
Caesar  had  his  party,  Antony  had  his  party,  Brutus 
had  his  party,  but  the  Commonwealth  had  none." 
The  want  of  the  Republic  was  not  a  Democratic 
party  but  a  party  for  the  Union,  for  the  Constitu 
tion,  for  the  supremacy  of  the  laws,  for  the  restora 
tion  of  all  the  States  to  their  political  rights  and 
powers  under  irrevocable  guarantees." 

Mr.  Stevens  was  gratified  to  see  so  much  unani 
mity  among  his  political  friends,  but  he  was  not 
gratified  to  see  a  division  among  them,  on  what  he 
regarded  the  vital  proposition — the  exclusion  of 
rebels  from  the  right  of  suffrage.  He  did  not  care 
the  snap  of  his  finger  whether  the  measure  passed 
or  not  if  that  provision  was  stricken  out.  "Do 
not,"  he  said,  "I  pray  you,  admit  those  who  have 


254  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

slaughtered  half  a  million  of  our  countrymen  until 
their  clothes  are  dried,  and  until  they  are  reclad. 
I  do  not  wish  to  sit  side  by  side  with  men  whose 
garments  smell  of  the  blood  of  my  kindred.  Gen 
tlemen  seem  to  forget  the  scenes  that  were  enacted 
here  years  ago. 

Ah,  sir,  it  was  but  six  years  ago  when  they  were 
here,  just  before  they  went  out  to  join  the  armies 
of  Catiline,  just  before  they  left  this  Hall.  Those 
of  you  who  were  here  then  will  remember  the 
scene  in  which  every  southern  member,  encouraged 
by  their  allies,  came  forth  in  one  yelling  body,  be 
cause  a  speech  for  freedom  was  being  made  here ; 
when  weapons  were  drawn,  and  Barksdale's  bowie- 
knife  gleamed  before  our  eyes.  Would  you  have 
these  men  back  again  so  soon  to  re-enact  those 
scenes?  Wait  until  I  am  gone,  I  pray  }^ou."  Mr. 
Stevens  moved  the  previous  question  and  it  was 
ordered. — Yeas  84,  nays  79.  The  joint  resolution 
was  then  passed — Yeas  128,  nays  37. 

The  Senate  on  the  23d  of  May,  proceeded  to  the 
consideration  of  the  joint  resolution,  proposing  an 
amendment  to  the  constitution.  In  the  absence  of 
Mr.  Fessenden,  on  account  of  illness,  Mr.  Howard 
of  Michigan,  a  member  of  the  committee,  spoke  in 
explanation  of  its  provisions.  Mr.  Wade  of  Ohio 
moved  to  amend  by  striking  out  the  article  and  in 
serting  an  amendment  in  four  sections.  This 
amendment  left  out  the  3d  section  of  the  House 
proposition  excluding  rebels  from  suffrage  until 


IN   CONGRESS.  255 

1870.  Mr.  Wade's  amendment  proposed  that  no 
class  of  persons,  as  to  the  right  of  any  of  whom  to 
suffrage,  discrimination  should  be  made,  should  be 
included  in  the  basis  of  representation,  unless  such 
discrimination  should  be  in  virtue  of  impartial 
qualifications  founded  on  intelligence  or  property 
or  because  of  alienage,  or  for  participation  in  re 
bellion  or  other  crime.  Mr.  Wilson  suggested  that 
the  word  "property"  as  a  qualification  for  suffrage, 
be  stricken  out.  Property  as  a  qualification  for 
suffrage  in  this  country  ought  not  to  be  incorpo 
rated  into  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
Mr.  Wade  said  he  had  already  modified  his  amend 
ment  so  as  to  strike  out  the  word  "property." 

Mr.  Wilson  moved  to  amend  the  second  section 
relating  to  the  basis  of  representation,  so  as  to 
strike  out  "citizens  of  the  State,"  and  insert  "in 
habitants,  being  male  citizens  of  the  United  States." 
He  thought  the  distinction  was  of  vital  importance. 
He  then  moved  to  strike  out  the  third  section  ex 
cluding  rebels  from  the  right  of  suffrage  until  1870, 
and  to  insert  in  lieu  of  it,  "That  no  person  who  has 
resigned  or  abandoned  or  may  resign  or  abandon 
any  office  under  the  United  States,  and  has  taken 
or  may  take  part  in  rebellion  against  the  Govern 
ment  thereof,  shall  be  eligible  to  any  office  under 
the  United  States  or  of  any  State."  Mr.  Clark  of 
New  Hampshire  proposed  an  amendment  to  the 
third  section,  providing  that  no  person  should  hold 
any  office  under  the  Government,  who,  having 


256  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

taken  an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution,  should 
have  engaged  in  the  rebellion.  Mr.  Buckalew  of 
Pennsylvania  offered  an  amendment  providing  that 
this  constitutional  amendment  should  be  submitted 
to  Legislatures  hereafter  to  be  chosen. 

The  Senate  on  the  24th  resumed  the  considera 
tion  of  the  proposed  amendment  to  the  Constitu 
tion,  and  Mr.  Stewart  of  Nevada  addressed  the 
Senate  in  an  elaborate  speech  in  favor  of  amnesty 
and  suffrage.  He  said :  "The  triumph  of  arms  was 
complete.  The  question  now  presented  is,  shall 
the  triumph  of  democratic  principles  be  equally 
so  ?  There  are  two  great  obstacles  in  the  way,  both 
based  upon  passion  and  prejudice,  and  each  seems 
nearly  insurmountable.  One  is  hatred  of  rebels, 
and  a  demand  that  they  shall  be  disfranchised  and 
enslaved — for  disfranchisement  is  slavery.  The 
other  is  hatred  of  the  negro,  and  a  demand  that  he 
shall  be  disfranchised  and  robbed  of  the  power  of 
self-protection  and  virtually  re-enslaved."  Mr.  John 
son  moved  to  strike  out  the  third  section  of  the 
resolution.  Mr.  Sherman  suggested  an  amend 
ment  basing  representation  on  suffrage. 

The  Senate  resumed  on  the  29th  the  considera 
tion  of  the  joint  resolution,  the  pending  question 
being  on  the  motion  of  Mr.  Johnson  to  strike  out 
the  third  section,  and  it  was  stricken  out. — Yeas  43, 
nays  0.  Mr.  Howard  moved  a  series  of  amend 
ments  to  the  joint  resolution.  These  amendments 
had  been  agreed  upon  in  a  caucus  of  Republican 


IN   CONGRESS.  257 

Senators,  and  Mr.  Howard  was  designated  to  pre 
sent  them.  The  first  amendment  was  to  add  to  the 
first  section  the  words  "All  persons  born  in  the 
United  States  and  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  there 
of  are  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  of  the 
States  wherein  they  reside."  The  second  amend 
ment  proposed  to  strike  out  the  word  "citizens"  in 
the  second  section  and  insert  "inhabitants,  being 
citizens  of  the  United  States."  The  third  amend 
ment  was  to  insert  in  lieu  of  the  third  section  dis 
franchising  rebels  :  "No  person  shall  be  a  Senator 
or  Representative  in  Congress,  or  an  elector  of 
President  and  Vice  President,  or  hold  any  office,  civil 
or  military,  under  the  United  States,  or  under  any 
State,  who,  having  previously  taken  an  oath  as  a 
member  of  Congress,  or  as  an  officer  of  the  United 
States,  or  as  a  member  of  any  State  Legislature,  or  as- 
an  executive  or  judicial  officer  of  any  State,  to 
support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  shall 
have  engaged  in  insurrection  or  rebellion  against 
the  same,  or  given  aid  or  comfort  to  the  enemies 
thereof;  but  Congress  may,  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds 
of  each  House,  remove  such  disability." 

On  the  30th  the  Senate  resumed  the  considera 
tion  of  the  joint  resolution,  the  pending  question 
being  the  first  amendment  moved  by  Mr.  Howard. 
Mr.  Doolittle  desired  so  to  amend  that  amendment 
so  as  to  provide  that  Indians  not  taxed  should  not 
be  citizens  of  the  United  States.  Mr.  Cowan,  Mr.. 
Conness,  Mr.  Doolittle,  Mr.  Truinbull,  Mr.  Johnson,, 
17 


258  RECONSTRUCTION    MEASUR 

Mr.  Hendricks,  Mr.  Howard,  Mr.  Williams  and  Mr. 
Van  Winkle  took  part  in  the  further  discussion  of 
this  amendment,  and  it  was  rejected. — Yeas  10,  nays 
30.  Mr.  Howard's  amendment  to  strike  out  "citi 
zens"  in  the  second  section  and  insert  "inhabitants, 
being  citizens  of  the  United  States,"  was  agreed  to. 
Mr.  Howard's  next  amendment  to  insert  in  lieu  of 
the  third  section  disfranchising  rebels,  a  provision 
disqualifying  persons  from  holding  office  who  had 
taken  an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution,  and 
afterwards  gave  aid  and  comfort  to  the  rebellion, 
was  then  considered.  Mr.  Hendricks  of  Indiana 
moved  to  so  amend  it  as  to  apply  only  to  those  per 
sons  who  engaged  in  rebellion  during  their  term 
of  office,  and  this  amendment  was  supported  by 
Mr.  Hendricks,  Mr.  Van  Winkle,  Mr.  Johnson,  Mr. 
Guthrie ;  opposed  by  Mr.  Howard  and  Mr.  Sher 
man,  and  rejected. — Yeas  8,  nays  34.  Mr.  Johnson 
then  moved  so  to  amend  Mr.  Howard's  amendment 
as  not  to  include  members  of  the  State  Legislatures, 
or  members  of  the  executive  or  judicial  officers  of 
the  States.  The  amendment  was  rejected. — Yeas 
10,  nays  32.  Mr.  Johnson  then  moved  so  to  amend 
Mr.  Howard's  amendment  as  only  to  exclude  rebels 
who  had  taken  the  oath  to  support  the  Constitu 
tion  within  ten  years.  The  amendment  was  re 
jected. — Yeas  10,  nays  32.  Mr.  Saulsbury  of  Dela 
ware  then  moved  so  to  amend  the  amendment  that 
the  President  might  remove  the  disability  by  the 
.exercise  of  the  pardoning  power ;  but  the  amend- 


IN   CONGRESS.  259 

ment  was  rejected. — Yeas  10?  nays  32.  On  the 
31st  of  May  Mr.  Doolittle  spoke  in  opposition  to 
the  incorporation  of  disfranchisement  into  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States.  He  closed  by  pro 
posing  to  amend  Mr.  Howard's  amendment  so  that 
it  should  only  apply  to  persons  who  "voluntarily" 
engaged  in  the  rebellion. 

Mr.  Davis  declared  that  this  proscriptive  amend 
ment  operated  alike  inexorably  on  those  who  willed 
to  go  into  the  rebel  service,  and  those  who  were  in 
voluntarily  forced  into  it.  He  denounced  the  mea 
sure  as  tending  to  prevent  a  return  of  the  rebel 
States  to  loyalty  and  true  fealty.  Mr.  Willey  of 
West  Virginia  thought  the  incorporation  of  this 
amendment  into  the  proposed  constitutional  amend 
ment  would  emasculate  it — that  it  would  be  claimed 
that  few  entered  the  rebel  service  voluntarily.  Mr. 
Saulsbury  of  Delaware  said  there  had  been  a  clamor 
in  one  section  of  the  country  against  a  subdued 
and  fallen  foe,  and  it  was  popular  to  cry  out  for 
blood  and  vengeance.  "I  choose,"  said  he,  "to  say, 
for  one,  I  heed  not  the  clamor.  Let  it  come  with 
the  whirlwind's  power  ;  let  it  come  in  the  tornado's 
blast ;  let  it  come  in  the  earthquake's  shock  •  I 
stand  unmoved  amid  the  clamor  for  blood  and  ven 
geance.  I  heed  it  not.  I  will  not  listen  to  it.  It 
is  the  voice  of  error ;  and  it  will  not  be  long  before 
the  American  people,  North  and  South,  will  awaken 
and  listen  to  the  voice  of  reason." 

The  question  was  then  taken  on  Mr.  Doolittle's 


2GO  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

amendment  to  insert  the  word  "voluntarily/'  and  it 
was  rejected. — Yeas  10,  nays  30.  Mr.  Doolittle 
then  moved  to  so  amend  Mr.  Howard's  amendment  as 
to  except  those  who  had  received  pardon  and  am 
nesty  under  the  Constitution  and  laws,  and  would 
take  such  oaths  as  should  be  required  by  law.  His 
amendment  was  rejected.— Yeas  10,  nays  32.  Mr. 
Howard's  amendment  was  then  agreed  to. — Yeas 
32,  nays  10. 

On  the  4th  of  June  the  Senate  resumed  the  con 
sideration  of  the  joint  resolution,  the  question  be 
ing  on  Mr.  Howard's  motion  to  insert:  "The  obli 
gations  of  the  United  States,  incurred  in  suppressing 
insurrection,  or  in  defense  of  the  Union,  or  for  pay 
ment  of  bounties  or  pensions  incident  thereto,  shall 
remain  inviolate."  Mr.  Hendricks  then  addressed 
the  Senate  in  an  elaborate  speech  in  opposition  to 
the  amendment.  Mr.  Howard's  amendment  was 
then  agreed  to  without  a  division.  The  section  re 
lating  to  rebel  debts  and  payment  for  emancipated 
slaves  was  modified  on  motion  of  Mr.  Howard.  Mr. 
Yan  Winkle  then  moved  to  amend  the  joint  reso 
lution  so  as  to  provide  that  all  persons  excluded 
from  holding  office,  against  whom  no  prosecution 
for  treason  should  be  instituted  before  the  expira 
tion  of  —  years,  and  who  should  take  an  oath  to 
support  the  Constitution,  should  be  acquitted  of 
and  discharged  from  all  pains,  penalties,  liabilities, 
disabilities  and  disqualifications. 

This   amendment  was   supported   by   Mr.   Yan 


IN    CONGRESS.  261 

Winkle,  and  opposed  by  Mr.  Howard  and  Mr.  Sher 
man  and  was  rejected. — Yeas  8,  nays  26.  It  was 
then  moved  by  Mr.  Hendricks  to  strike  out  the  sec 
tion  relating  to  the  elective  franchise,  and  insert  a 
provision  excluding  two-fifths  of  those  to  whom  the 
elective  franchise  might  be  denied,  but  this  was  re 
jected  without  a  division.  Mr.  Doolittle  then  re 
newed  his  motion  to  base  representation  on  quali 
fied  electors.  He  spoke  in  support  of  his  amend 
ment,  and  it  was  opposed  by  Mr.  Edmunds  of  Ver 
mont. 

On  the  5th  of  June  the  Senate  resumed  the  con 
sideration  of  the  resolution,  and  Mr.  Poland  of  Ver 
mont  addressed  the  Senate  at  length  in  its  support. 
The  proposition  did  not  do  justice  to  the  colored 
men  of  the  South,  but  it  went  as  far  in  favor  of 
suffrage  as  was  practicable  at  that  time.  He  said 
there  were  men  who  believed  the  nation  was  on  the 
verge  of  ruin  ;  they  were  either  cowards  or  croakers 
who  always  saw  the  dark  side  of  the  picture ;  to 
him  everything  looked  hopeful  for  the  future. 

Mr.  Howe  of  Wisconsin  then  proceeded  to  ad 
dress  the  Senate,  but  before  concluding  gave  way 
to  a  motion  to  adjourn.  On  the  6th  Mr.  Howe  re 
sumed  the  floor  and  spoke  at  great  length  in  sup 
port  of  the  proposition.  He  said  : 
"For  myself,  I  avow  here,  as  I  have  avowed  every 
where,  that  everything  I  have  asked  to  have  done 
in  the  name  of  the  nation,  South  or  North,  in  refer 
ence  to  closing  up  this  war,  I  have  asked  to  have 


262  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

done  not  only  because  I  believed  the  best  interests 
of  the  poor  and  the  helpless  demanded  it;  but  be 
cause  I  believed  the  best  interests  of  the  rich  and 
the  powerful  demanded  it  there  and  here.  There 
is  but  one  measure  which  meets  every  want  in  the 
nation,  and  that  is  justice ;  justice  from  the  Gov 
ernment  to  the  people ;  justice  between  man  and 
man.  I  believe  we  are  trying  to  administer  justice 
betwreen  man  and  man,  and  justice  between  the 
Government  and  the  people." 

Mr.  Doolittle  followed  in  opposition  to  the  joint 
resolution ;  the  vote  was  then  taken  on  his  motion 
to  base  representation  on  male  electors,  and  it  wras 
rejected. — Yeas  7,  nays  31.  Mr.  Doolittle  then 
moved  to  so  amend  the  joint  resolution  as  to  base 
representation  on  male  citizens.  Mr.  Sherman  ex 
plained  the  reasons  for  his  voting  on  the  question 
in  opposition  to  his  own  deliberate  judgment.  He 
submitted  to  the  judgment  of  his  friends.  Mr. 
Wilson  said  :  "I  regard  this  amendment  as  a  propo 
sition  to  strike  from  the  basis  of  representation  two 
million  one  hundred  thousand  unnatural! zed  for 
eigners  in  the  old  free  States,  for  whom  we  are  now 
entitled  to  seventeen  Eepresentatives  in  the  other 
House,  and  it  weakens  that  part  of  the  country  that 
much.  That  is  all  there  is  in  it.  It  is  simply  a 
blow  which  strikes  the  twro  million  one  hundred 
thousand  unnaturalized  foreigners  who  are  now 
counted  in  the  basis  of  representation  from  that 
basis,  and  takes  the  Representatives  for  that  popu 
lation  from  the  loyal  portion  of  the  country  for  the 


IN    CONGRESS.  263 

benefit  of  the  other  end  of  the  country  that  has 
been  disloyal.  That  is  the  proposition,  and  I  shall 
vote  against  it." 

Mr.  Cowan  of  Pennsylvania  was  opposed  to  any 
amendment  of  the  Constitution,  but  would  vote  for 
the  proposition  made  by  Mr.  Doolittle.  The  amend 
ment  was  rejected. — Yeas  7,  nays  31.  Mr.  Williams 
of  Oregon,  a  member  of  the  committee  on  Recon 
struction,  then  moved  to  amend  the  Joint  Resolu 
tion  by  striking  out  the  section  relating  to  the  basis 
of  representation  and  inserting  it  in  a  new  form. 

On  the  7th  of  June  the  Senate  resumed  the  con 
sideration  of  the  Joint  Resolution,  and  Mr.  Davis 
of  Kentucky  spoke  at  great  length  in  opposition  to 
it  and  to  the  policy  of  the  radicals.  He  said  the 
paramount  object  of  the  radical  party  was  contin 
uance  in  office  and  power,  and  their  chief  means 
negro  suffrage  ;  and  the  machinery  was  a  perpetual 
howl  for  justice  and  protection  to  "loyal  citizens 
of  African  descent." 

The  Senate  resumed  on  the  8th  of  June  the  con 
sideration  of  the  joint  resolution,  and  Mr.  Johnson 
of  Maryland  spoke  at  great  length  in  opposition  to 
it.  He  thought  with  peace  once  more  existing 
throughout  the  land,  the  Union  would  be  at  once 
in  a  more  prosperous  condition  than  ever  before, 
and  that  nothing  in  the  future  would  ever  cause 
the  people  to  dream  of  dissolution,  or  of  subjecting 
any  part,  through  the  powerful  instrumentality  of 
any  other  part,  to  any  dishonoring  humiliation. 
Mr.  McDougall  denounced  the  measure  as  radically 


264  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

wrong — that  white  men  of  the  Caucasian  race  were 
made  for  governors,  and  negroes  were  only  fit  for  a 
subject  race.  Mr.  Henderson  of  Missouri  made  an 
elaborate  and  able  speech  in  favor  of  the  amend 
ment  which,  under  all  the  circumstances,  he  thought 
the  country  should  accept,  for  it  did  much  towards 
settling  some  of  the  vexed  questions  of  the  past. 
Mr.  Yates  of  Illinois  suggested  an  amendment,  that 
nothing  therein  should  deny,  abridge,  or  in  any 
wise  affect  the  rights,  franchises  or  privileges  of  any 
inhabitant,  guaranteed  by  the  Constitutional  amend 
ment  abolishing  slavery. 

The  debate  was  further  continued  by  Mr.  Hen- 
dricks  and  Mr.  Howard,  and  the  vote  was  then  taken 
on  the  amendment  proposed  by  Mr.  Williams  of 
Oregon,  changing  the  form  of  the  section  relating  to 
representation,  and  it  was  agreed  to.  Mr.  Clark  of 
New  Hampshire  then  moved  to  strike  out  the  fourth 
and  fifth  sections  relating  to  the  national  and  rebel 
debt  and  payment  for  slaves,  and  insert  that :  "  The 
validity  of  the  public  debt  of  the  United  States, 
authorized  by  law,  including  debts  incurred  for 
payment  of  pensions  and  bounties  for  services  in 
suppressing  insurrection  or  rebellion,  shall  not  be 
questioned.  But  neither  the  United  States  nor 
any  State  shall  assume  or  pay  any  debt  or  obliga 
tion  incurred  in  aid  of  insurrection  or  rebellion 
against  the  United  States,  or  any  claim  for  the  loss 
or  emancipation  of  any  slave ;  but  all  such  debts, 
obligations,  and  claims  shall  be  held  illegal  and 
void." 


IN   CONGRESS.  265 

The  Senate,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Fessenden,  amend 
ed  the  first  section  by  inserting  the  words  "or  nat 
uralized,"  so  that  it  would  read  "all  persons  born  or 
naturalized  in  the  United  States  shall  be  citizens." 
Mr.  Doolittle  then  moved  an  amendment  in  the  na 
ture  of  a  substitute  for  the  original  resolution  wrhich 
was  rejected. — Yeas  11,  nays  33.  Several  amend 
ments  were  moved  by  Mr.  Davis  of  Kentucky,  but 
they  were  rejected  without  division.  The  joint 
resolution  as  amended  was  then  passed. — Yeas  33, 
nays  11. 

The  House  of  Eepresentatives,  on  the  13th,  on 
motion  of  Mr.  Stevens,  proceeded  to  consider  the 
resolution.  Upon  the  question  of  concurring  in 
the  amendments  of  the  Senate,  Mr.  Eogers  of  N.ew 
Jersey,  Mr.  Henderson  of  Oregon,  Mr.  Finck  and 
Mr.  Spalding  of  Ohio,  Mr.  Harding  of  Kentucky, 
Mr.  Defrees  of  Indiana,  and  Mr.  Wright  of  New  Jer 
sey  addressed  the  House.  The  debate  was  closed 
by  Mr.  Stevens  of  Pennsylvania.  He  was  anxious 
for  its  speedy  adoption  for  he  dreaded  delay.  The 
danger  was,  before  any  constitutional  guards  should 
be  adopted,  Congress  would  be  flooded  with  rebels 
and  rebel  sympathizers.  "Let  us,"  he  said,  "no 
longer  delay ;  take  what  we  can  get  now  and  hope 
for  better  things  in  future  legislation.  The  House 
then  by  a  vote  of  120  to  32,  concurred  in  the 
amendments  of  the  Senate,  and  the  amendment 
to  the  constitution  was  submitted  to  the  States  for 
ratification. 


CHAPTEE  XH. 

NEGRO  SUFFRAGE  IN  THE  DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA. 

Mr.  Wade's  Bill. — Mr.  Kelley's  Bill. — Mr.  Wade's  Bill  reported  with  amend 
ments. — Recommitted. — Speech  of  Mr.  Kelley,  Mr.  Bingham,  Mr.  Grin- 
nell,  Mr.  Julian,  Mr.  Boutwell. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Howard. — Mr.  Schenck's 
motion  agreed  to. — Passage  of  the  Bill. — Senate. — Mr.  Wade's  Bill  re 
ported  with  amendments. — Mr.  Merrill's  motion. — Mr.  Wilson's  motion 
to  amend  Mr.  Merrill's  amendment. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Grimes. — Mr.  An. 
thony's  motion  to  amend  Mr.  Kelley's  amendment. — Speech  of  Mr.  Wil 
son,  Mr.  Anthony. — Mr.  Cowan's  motion — his  amendment  and  speech  on 
female  suffrage. — Speech  of  Mr.  Wade. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Frclinghuysen, 
Mr.  Brown,  Mr.  Davis,  Mr.  Sprague,  Mr.  Buckalew. — Speech  of  Mr. 
Foster,  Mr.  Wilson. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Hendricks. — Speech  of  Mr.  Lane, 
Mr.  Sumner. — Mr.  Dixon's  Reading  and  Writing  amendment  rejected. — 
Mr.  Wilson's  amendment  agreed  to. — Bill  passed. — Bill  taken  up  in  the 
House  and  passed. — Veto  Message. — Passage  of  the  Bill  over  the  Veto. 

DURING  the  four  years  of  active  hostilities,  the 
conquest  of  the  Eebellion  rather  than  the  recon 
struction  of  rebellious  States,  had  filled  the  minds 
of  the  loyal  people.  The  sudden  collapse  of  the 
rebellion,  by  the  surrender  of  the  rebel  armies  in 
the  spring  of  1865,  forced  the  practical  issues  in 
volved  in  reconstruction  upon  the  people  of  the 
loyal  States.  The  policy  of  the  President,  the  ac 
tion  of  the  conventions  and  legislatures  of  the 
rebel  States,  and  the  temper  of  their  people  in  the 

266 


IN   CONGRESS.  267 

summer  and  autumn  of  that  year,  created  much  solici 
tude.  Fully  realizing  that  the  faith  of  the  nation  was 
plighted  to  maintain  the  freedom  of  the  race  re 
cently  emancipated,  the  people  of  the  loyal  States 
came  to  see  that  if  the  new-made  freemen  were  to 
maintain  their  civil  rights,  they  must  be  clothed 
with  political  rights.  The  more  progressive  and 
far-seeing  portion  of  the  people  clearly  saw  that 
the  needs  of  the  country  no  less  than  the  rights  of 
the  emancipated  race  demanded  their  enfranchise 
ment.  When,  therefore,  the  39th  Congress  met  on 
the  4th  of  December,  the  great  body  of  the  friends 
of  emancipation,  instructed  by  passing  events,  de 
sired  the  extension  of  suffrage  to  the  colored  race 
in  the  District  of  Columbia,  both  as  a  right  and  as 
an  example. 

Immediately  after  the  Senate  was  called  to  order 
on  the  first  day  of  the  session,  Mr.  Wade  of  Ohio 
introduced  a  bill  giving  to  each  male  person  of  the  age 
of  twenty-one  years,  a  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
resident  in  the  District  six  months  previous  to  any 
election  therein,  the  elective  franchise  without  any 
distinction  of  color,  race  or  nationality.  On  the 
6th  it  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  the  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia.  In  the  House  of  Kepresenta- 
tives,  on  the  second  day  of  the  session,  Mr.  Kelley 
of  Pennsylvania,  one  of  the  earliest  advocates  of 
negro  suffrage  in  Congress,  introduced  a  bill  extend 
ing  suffrage  in  the  District,  which  was  referred  to 
the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary. 


268  RECONSTRUCTION    MEASURES 

In  the  House  on  the  18th  Mr.  Wilson  of  Iowa, 
chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Committee,  asked  unan 
imous  consent  to  report  Mr.  Kelley's  bill.  ^Jr.  An- 
cona  of  Pennsylvania  objecting,  the  rules  were 
suspended  and  it  was  reported.  The  bill  provided 
that  from  all  laws  prescribing  the  qualifications  of 
electors  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  the  word 
"white"  should  be  stricken  out,  and  no  person 
should  be  disqualified  on  account  of  color.  Cn 
motion  of  Mr.  Wilson  it  was  made  the  special  order 
for  the  10th  of  January. 

On  the  20th  of  December  Mr.  Morrill  of  Maine, 
chairman  of  the  Committee  on  the  District  of 
Columbia,  reported  Mr.  Wade's  bill  to  the  Senate 
with  amendments,  one  of  which  provided  that  the 
voter  should  "be  able  to  read  the  Constitution  in 
the  English  language,  and  to  write  his  name."  On 
the  10th  of  January,  1866,  the  Senate  proceeded 
to  consider  the  bill  and  amendments.  Mr.  Yates 
of  Illinois,  a  member  of  the  District  Committee, 
desired  to  have  it  recommitted.  Mr.  Pomeroy  of 
Kansas  thought  a  person  might  be  very  well  edu 
cated  and  not  be  able  to  read  the  English  language, 
and  he  had  his  doubts  about  requiring  reading  and 
writing  at  all.  "It  might,"  he  remarked,  "do  very 
well  to  apply  it  to  persons  who  have  always  had 
educational  opportunities,  but  after  having  legis 
lated  them  away  from  schools  and  science  and 
everything  else,  to  thrust  in  their  faces  a  law  saying, 
'If  you  can  read  and  write,  you  can  vote/  I  think 


IN    CONGRESS.  269 

is  adding  insult  to  injury.  At  the  suggestion  of 
Mr.  Morrill  this  amendment  was  passed  over  and 
other  amendments  of  slight  importance  were  acted 
upon.  He  then  offered  three  new  sections  as 
amendments,  and  the  bill  was  recommitted,  on  mo 
tion  of  Mr.  Yates,  to  the  Committee  on  the  District 
of  Columbia. 

In  the  House  on  the  10th  of  January,  Mr.  Kelley's 
bill  came  up  for  consideration,  and  Mr.  Wilson, 
chairman  of  the  Committee  having  it  in  charge, 
advocated  its  passage  in  a  speech  of  much  force. 
"  The  Constitution,"  he  said,  "not  only  confers  the  in 
disputable  power,  but  it  seems  also  to  invite  the 
identical  legislation  which  the  pending  measure 
provides.  Nowhere  in  the  Constitution  do  we  find 
class  distinctions  applied  to  citizens  of  the  United 
States.  Its  ample  folds  envelop  all  citizens  alike. 
It  in  no  way  develops  color  of  skin  as  a  tenure  to 
the  rights  and  privileges  of  citizenship.  The  citi 
zen,  be  he  high  or  low,  rich  or  poor,  white  or  black, 
finds  the  Constitution  of  his  country  as  full  of 
justice  to  him  as  it  is  to  any  other.  Looking  into 
its  bright  face  as  into  a  mirror,  he  sees  himself  re 
flected  a  citizen ;  and  of  this  there  is  never  a  failure. 
This  is  the  crowning  glory  of  our  Constitution. 
The  whitest  face  can  draw  nothing  from  that  mir 
ror  but  the  image  of  a  citizen,  and  the  same  return 
is  given  to  the  appeal  of  the  black  face.  If  ever 
aught  else  appears,  be  sure  you  are  not  looking 


270  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

into  the  broad,  bright  surface  of  the  real  Constitu 
tion,  for  it  never  varies,  never  lies." 

Mr.  Boyer  of  Pennsylvania,  a  new  member,  earn 
estly  and  eloquently  opposed  the  passage  of  the 
bill,  "not  only  upon  special  and  local  grounds,  but 
also  upon  the  broad,  general  principle  that  this  is, 
and  of  right  ought  to  be  a  white  man's  govern 
ment."  He  acquitted  the  authors  of  the  measure 
of  all  special  malice  towards  the  white  inhabitants 
of  Washington. 

Mr.  Scofield  of  Pennsylvania  followed  in  vindi 
cation  of  the  policy  of  emancipation  and  enfran 
chisement.  "The  cheapest  elevation,"  he  said, "and 
the  best  moralizer  for  an  oppressed  and  degraded 
class  is  to  inspire  them  with  self-respect,  with  belief 
in  the  possibility  of  their  elevation.  Bestow  the 
elective  franchise  upon  the  colored  population  of 
this  District,  and  you  awaken  the  hope  and  ambi 
tion  of  the  whole  race  throughout  the  country. 
Hitherto  punishment  has  been  the  only  incentive 
to  sobriety  and  industry  furnished  these  people  by 
American  law.  They  were  kept  too  low  to  feel  dis 
grace,  and  reward  was  inconsistent  with  the  theory 
of  '  service  owed/  Let  us  try  now  the  persuasive 
power  of  wages  and  protection."  He  closed  his 
powerful  speech  with  the  stern  declaration  that  the 
"North,  in  a  political  sense,  means  justice,  liberty 
and  union," — that  'this  North  has  no  geographical 
boundaries/ — that  'the  North  that  did  not  fear  the 
slave  power  in  its  prime,  in  the  day  of  its  political 


IN    CONGRESS.  271 

strength  and  patronage,  when  it  commanded  alike 
the  nation  and  the  mob,  and  for  the  same  cruel  pur 
pose,  will  not  be  intimidated  by  its  expiring  male 
dictions  around  this  capital.  The  North  must  pass 
this  bill,  to  vindicate  its  sincerity  and  its  courage. 
The  slave  power  has  already  learned  that  the  North 
is  terrible  in  war  and  forgiving  and  gentle  in  peace  ; 
let  its  crushed  and  mangled  victims  learn  from  the 
passage  of  this  bill  that  the  justice  of  the  North, 
unlimited  by  lines  of  latitude,  unlimited  by  color  or 
race,  slumbereth  not," 

Mr.  Kelley  of  Pennsylvania,  the  author  of  the 
measure,  said :  "  In  asking  the  consideration  of  the 
House  to  the  bill  now  before  it,  I  was  actuated  by 
no  temporary  impulse,  no  gust  of  passion.  I  did  it 
in  view  of  the  responsibility  that  rests  upon  this 
Congress,  and  in  view  of  the  gravity  of  the  ques 
tions  which  mark  the  era  in  which  we  live." 

On  the  llth  the  debate  was  resumed  by  Mr. 
Rogers  of  New  Jersey,  a  member  of  the  Judiciary 
Committee ;  of  suffrage  he  said  :  "  There  is  no  priv 
ilege  so  high ;  there  is  no  right  so  grand.  It  lies  at 
the  very  foundation  of  this  Government ;  and  when 
you  introduce  into  the  social  system  of  this  coun 
try,  the  right  of  the  African  race  to  compete  at  the 
ballot-box  with  the  intelligent  white  citizens  of  this 
country,  you  are  disturbing  and  imbittering  the 
whole  social  system ;  you  rend  the  bonds  of  a  com 
mon  political  faith ;  you  break  up  commercial  in 
tercourse  and  the  free  interchanges  of  trade,  and 


272  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

you  degrade  the  people  of  this  country  before  the 
eyes  of  the  envious  monarchs  of  Europe,  and  fill 
our  history  with  a  record  of  degradation  and 
shame." 

Mr.  Farnsworth  of  Illinois  emphatically  denied 
that  this  is  a  white  man's  government — that  the 
fathers  had  no  intention  to  make  a  government  for 
black  men.  Taking  issue  with  Mr.  Rogers  he  de 
clared  that  our  fathers  made  this  Government  for 
men ;  not  for  black  men  or  white  men,  not  for  An 
glo-Saxons,  not  for  Irishmen,  or  Germans,  or  Ameri 
cans  merely,  but  they*  made  it  for  men.  He  main 
tained  that  "the  test  of  suffrage  is  manhood,"  and 
he  asked,  "will  some  gentleman,  in  God's  name,  tell 
me  why  this  body  of  men  who  are  under  the  Gov 
ernment  have  not  the  same  right  as  I  have  to  par 
ticipate  in  it?  What  business  have  I  to  elbow  an 
other  man  off,  and  to  say  to  him  that  he  has  no 
right  here  ?  Has  God  made  me  better  than  He  has 
made  him  ?  We  might  as  well  partition  off  the 
atmosphere,  collect  the  rays  of  the  sun,  and  with 
hold  them  from  the  men  we  may  conceive  to  be  in 
ferior  to  ourselves." 

The  debate  was  resumed  on  the  12th  by  Mr. 
Davis  of  New  York  in  favor  of  qualified  suffrage. 
Mr.  Chanler  of  New  York  followed  in  opposition  to 
the  measure.  He  was  "opposed,"  he  said,  "to  thrust 
ing  honor  on  the  negro.  He  is  >to  day,  as  a  race, 
as  dependent  on  the  power  and  skill  of  the  white 
man  for  protection,  as  when  he  was  first  brought 


IN   CONGRESS.  273 

from  Africa.  Not  one  act  of  theirs  has  proved  the 
capacity  of  the  black  race  for  self  government. 
They  have  neither  literature,  arts  nor  arms  as  a 
race."  He  warned  the  Kepresentatives  not  to  be 
tray  the  dominion  of  the  white  race. 

Mr.  Bingham  of  Ohio  replied  briefly  to  Mr.  Chan- 
ler,  but  with  great  earnestness  and  effect.  By  the 
terms  of  the  Constitution  he  declared  that  if  the 
slaves  had  "lifted  a  hand  in  the  assertion  of  their 
right  to  freedom  they  were  liable  that  moment  to 
be  crushed  by  the  combined  power  of  the  Republic, 
called  out,  in  pursuance  of  the  very  letter  of  the 
Constitution,  'to  suppress  insurrection.'  Yet,  not 
withstanding  the  fact  that  their  whole  living  gene 
ration  and  the  generations  before  them,  running 
back  two  centuries,  had  been  enslaved  and  brutal 
ized,  reduced  to  the  sad  and  miserable  condition  of 
chattels,  which,  for  want  of  a  better  name,  we  call 
a  'slave' — an  article  of  merchandise,  a  thing  of 
trade,  with  no  acknowledged  rights  in  the  present 
and  denied  even  the  hope  of  a  heritage  in  the  great 
hereafter — yet,  sir,  the  moment  that  the  word 
'Liberty'  ran  along  your  ranks,  the  moment  that 
the  word  'Emancipation'  was  emblazoned  upon 
your  banners,  those  men  who,  with  their  ancestors, 
had  been  enslaved  through  five  generations,  rose  as 
one  man  to  stand  by  this  Republic,  the  last  hope 
of  oppressed  humanity  upon  the  earth,  until  they 
numbered  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand 
arraigned  in  arms  under  your  banners,  doing  firmly, 
18 


274  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

unshrinkingly,  and  defiantly  their  full  share  in  se 
curing  the  final  victory  of  our  arms." 

Mr.  Grinnell  of  Iowa  spoke  warmly  for  the  mea 
sure.  He  had  sheltered  in  his  prairie  home  the 
fleeing  bondman  when  a  price  was  set  on  his  head, 
and  it  would  be  a  joyful  occasion  to  vote  the  ballot 
into  the  hands  of  those  who  owed  so  little  and  aid 
ed  so  much. 

"The  debate  was  resumed  on  the  15th  by  Mr. 
Kasson  of  Iowa,  in  favor  of  qualified  suffrage.  He 
opposed  the  bill  because  it  imposed  no  qualifications, 
,and  did  not  exclude  rebels.  "Let  the  blacks,"  he 
said,  "who  gallantly  fought,  go  and  vote,  let  the 
white  men  who  gallantly  fought,  go  and  vote,  let 
fall  these  who  did  go  and  fight,  and  who  can  read 
and  write,  and  thus  understand  the  system  of  our 
Government ;  who  can  read  the  ballot  with  which 
they  are  attempting  to  control  our  country ;  let  all 
these  men  go  and  vote  if  you  will,  and  aid  in  the 
government  of  our  country."  Mr.  Kasson  was 
briefly  replied  to  by  Mr.  Price  of  Iowa.  He  de 
clared  that  the  negroes  had  "again,  again  and  again" 
besought  the  government  to  be  allowed  to  fight  for 
the  suppression  of  the  rebellion. 

On  the  16th  Mr.  Julian  of  Indiana  renewed  the 
debate.  He  maintained  that  mere  knowledge,  ed 
ucation  in  its  ordinary  sense,  would  not  fit  a  man  to 
vote — that  the  reading  and  writing  test  was  a  sin 
gularly  insufficient  measure  of  fitness.  "I  agree," 
he  said,  "that  in  any  scheme  of  universal  suffrage, 


IN   CONGRESS.  275 

universal  knowledge,  as  far  as  possible,  should  be 
demanded;  but  universal  suffrage  is  one  of  the 
surest  means  of  securing  a  higher  level  of  intelli 
gence  for  the  ivliole  people!'  To  vote  against  the 
measure,  he  declared,  "  is  to  make  a  record  which 
the  roused  spirit  of  liberty  and  progress,  and  the 
thick-coming  events  of  the  future,  will  certainly 
disown  and  turn  from  with  shame.  And  while  such 
a  vote  might  tend  to  placate  the  conservative  and 
the  trimmer,  it  would  offend  those  radical  hosts 
now  everywhere  springing  to  their  feet,  and  pre 
paring  for  battle  against  every  form  of  inequality 
and  injustice,  and  in  favor  of  'all  rights  for  all/ 
Sir,  justice  is  safe.  The  right  thing  is  the  expedi 
ent  thing.  Democracy  is  not  a  lie.  God  is  not  the 
devil,  'nor  was  Christianity  itself  established  by 
prize  essays,  Bridgewater  bequests,  and  a  minimum 
of  four  thousand  five  hundred  a  year.' " 

Mr.  Randall  of  Pennsylvania  was  "glad  to  say 
from  my  reading  and  from  my  association  with  the 
party,  that  the  Democratic  party  of  Pennsylvania 
had  uniformly  been  against  extending  the  right  of 
suffrage  to  the  negro  race."  Mr.  John  L.  Thomas 
of  Maryland  denied  "either  the  expediency  or  ne 
cessity  of  legislating  on  the  subject."  Little  did 
Mr.  Thomas  imagine  that  within  a  few  months  he 
would  be  importuning  the  representatives  of  other 
States  to  extend  suffrage  to  the  negroes  of  Mary 
land  to  preserve  menaced  rights  and  recover  lost 
power. 


276  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

On  the  17th  the  debate  was  continued  by  Mr. 
Darling  of  New  York ;  he  would  amend  the  mea 
sure  so  as  to  secure  intelligent  suffrage,  but  he 
would  vote  for  it  in  any  event.  A  motion  wajs 
made  by  Mr.  Hale  of  New  York,  to  instruct  the 
judiciary  committee  to  amend  the  bill  so  as  to  ex 
tend  suffrage  to  all  persons  who  could  read — all  per 
sons  who  were  assessed  and  pay  taxes  on  property, 
and  who  had  served  and  been  honorably  discharg 
ed  from  the  army  or  navy.  He  preferred  a  restrict 
ed  and  qualified  suffrage,  but  if  the  voice  of  the 
House  should  be  otherwise  he  should  put  himself 
upon  the  record  for  "unqualified  and  unrestrained 
negro  suffrage  in  the  District."  The  passage  of  the 
bill  was  eloquently  pressed  by  Mr.  Thayer  of  Penn 
sylvania.  "The  real  question,"  he  said,  "is,  can  we 
afford  to  be  just — nay,  if  you  please,  generous — to 
a  race  whose  shame  has  been  washed  out  in  the 
consuming  fires  of  war,  and  which  now  stands  erect 
and  equal  before  the  law  with  our  own?" 

Mr.  Van  Horn  of  New  York  declared  that  such 
speeches  as  those  of  Mr,  Eogers,  Mr.  Boyer,  and 
Mr.  Chanler,  carry  us  back  to  the  days  and  scenes 
before  the  war,  when  slavery  ruled  supreme,  not 
only  throughout  the  land,  by  and  through  its  hold 
upon  power,  which  the  people,  in  an  evil  hour,  had 
given  it,  but  here  in  these  halls  of  legislation, 
where  liberty  and  its  high  and  noble  ends  ought  to 
have  been  secured  by  just  and  equal  laws  and  the 


IN   CONGRESS.  277 

great  and  paramount  object  of  our  system  of  gov 
ernment  carried  out  and  fully  developed." 

On  the  18th  the  debate  was  resumed  by  Mr. 
Clarke  of  Kansas  in  advocacy  of  the  measure.  "The 
principles  involved  in  the  arguments  put  forth  on 
the  other  side  of  the  House,"  he  asserted,  "are  not 
alone  destructive  to  the  rights  of  the  defenseless, 
intelligent,  and  patriotic  colored  men  of  this  Dis 
trict,  but  they  militate  with  a  double  effect  and 
stronger  purpose  against  the  poor  whites  of  the 
North  and  of  the  South,  against  the  German,  the 
Irishman,  and  the  poor  and  oppressed  of  every 
race,  who  come  to  our  shores  to  escape  the  oppres 
sion  of  despotic  Governments,  and  to  seek  the  pro 
tection  of  a  Government  the  true  theory  of  which 
reposes  in  every  citizen  a  portion  of  its  sovereign 
power." 

Mr.  Johnson  of  Pennsylvania,  since  deceased, 
sturdily  maintained  that  tests  were  all  idle,  that  the 
elective  franchise  belonged  to  citizens,  that  "citi 
zens  in  the  government  were  white  men."  Mr. 
Boutwell  of  Massachusetts,  a  member  of  the  Judiciary 
Committee  which  had  reported  the  bill,  opposed  all 
tests,  and  maintained  that  while  suffrage  might  not 
be  a  natural  right,  like  the  right  to  breathe,  it  was 
a  natural  social  right.  "  When,"  said  he,  "  we  pro 
claimed  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves,  and  put 
their  lives  in  peril  for  the  defense  of  this  country, 
we  did  in  effect  guarantee  to  them  substantially  the 
rights  of  American  citizens  and  a  Christian  pos- 


278  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

terity,  and  heathen  countries  will  demand  how  we 
have  kept  that  faith. 

#    ,       #  #  *          -x-  #          #  # 

There  is  an  ancient  history  that  a  sparrow  pur 
sued  by  a  hawk  took  refuge  in  the  chief  assembly 
of  Athens  in  the  bosom  of  a  member  of  that  illus 
trious  body,  and  that  the  senator  in  anger  hurled  it 
violently  from  him.  It  fell  to  the  ground  dead,  and 
such  was  the  horror  and  indignation  of  that  ancient 
but  not  Christianized  body — men  living  in  the  light 
of  nature,  of  reason — that  they  immediately  ex 
pelled  the  brutal  Areopagite  from  his  seat,  and 
from  the  association  of  humane  legislators. 

What  will  be  said  of  us,  not  by  Christian,  but  by 
heathen  nations  even,  if,  after  accepting  the  blood 
and  sacrifices  of  these  men,  we  hurl  them  from  us 
and  allow  them  to  be  the  victims  of  those  who  have 
tyrannized  over  them  for  centuries  ?  I  know  of  no 
crime  that  exceeds  this ;  I  know  of  none  that  is  its 
parallel ;  and  if  this  country  is  true  to  itself  it  will 
rise  in  the  majesty  of  its  strength  and  maintain  a 
policy,  here  and  everywhere,  by  which  the  rights 
of  the  colored  people  shall  be  secured  through  their 
own  power — in  peace  the  ballot,  in  war  the  bay 
onet." 

Mr.  Hubbard  of  West  Virginia  believed  that  "the 
effort  to  introduce  into  the  sovereignty  of  this  coun 
try  a  race  which  cannot  in  the  nature  of  things  be 
come  homogeneous — which  fact  every  instinct  of 
our  humanity  and  the  whole  legislation  of  the  coun- 


IN    CONGRESS.  279 

try  attest — can  only  be  productive  of  contention 
and  conflict — a  conflict  which  must  ultimately  result 
in  the  domination  of  one  or  the  other  of  these  races, 
and  the  ultimate  destruction  of  the  weaker  race." 

The  previous  question  was  moved  by  Mr.  Wilson 
on  the  motion  of  Mr.  Darling  to  postpone  the  bill 
to  the  first  Tuesday  in  April.  Mr.  Niblack  moved 
that  the  bill  be  laid  upon  the  table,  but  the  motion 
was  lost, — Yeas  47,  nays  123.  Mr.  Darling  then 
modified  his  motion  so  as  to  postpone  the  bill  to 
the  first  Tuesday  of  March,  but  it  was  lost. — Yeas 
30,  nays  135.  The  question  recurring  on  Mr.  Hale's 
amendment,  Mr.  Schenck  moved  to  strike  out  the 
clause  relating  to  the  payment  of  taxes,  and  it  was 
agreed  to.  The  vote  was  then  taken  on  the  motion 
to  recommit  with  Mr.  Hale's  instructions,  and  it  was 
lost, — Yeas  53,  nays  117.  The  bill  was  then  passed 
— Yeas  116,  nays  54. 

In  the  Senate  on  the  12th  of  January,  1866,  Mr. 
Morrill  reported  back  Mr.  Wade's  bill  with  an 
amendment  to  strike  out  all  of  the  original  bill  and 
insert  the  amendment  as  a  substitute.  Mr.  Davis 
of  Kentucky  expressed  a  desire  to  debate  the  bill 
and  the  amendment,  and  the  Senate  postponed  its 
consideration.  On  the  16th  the  Senate  resumed 
its  consideration,  and  Mr.  Morrill  moved  to  amend 
the  first  section  by  inserting  "excepting  persons 
who  may  have  voluntarily  left  the  District  of  Colum 
bia  to  give  aid  and  comfort  to  the  rebels  in  the 
late  rebellion."  Mr.  Davis  declared  that  "this  con- 


280  RECONSTRUCTION    MEASURES 

test  is  but  an  experiment,  a  skirmish,  an  entering 
wedge  to  prepare  the  way  for  a  similar  movement 
in  Congress  to  confer  the  right  of  suffrage  on  all 
the  negroes  of  the  United  States,  liberated  by  the 
recent  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  the  power 
to  be  claimed  under  its  second  clause."  The  negro, 
he  proclaimed,  had  "been  enslaved  in  every  age, 
had  been  the  slave  of  every  other  race,  and  had 
never  been  able  to  enslave  any  one  of  the  races  of 
men.  Individual  property  in  the  negro  might  have 
ceased,  but  his  slavery  in  some  form  in  the  fields  of 
the  South  was  his  destiny."  He  proclaimed  that 
"freedom  with  ignorance  and  barbarism,  or  slavery 
with  civilization  is  his  destiny." 

On  the  27th  of  June,  the  Senate  on  motion  of 
Mr.  Morrill,  resumed  the  consideration  of  the  bill, 
and  he  then  announced  his  purpose  to  offer  some 
amendments  further  to  qualify  it.  He  proposed  to 
amend  by  requiring  reading  and  writing  and  ex 
cluding  rebels. 

Mr.  Brown  of  Missouri  would  agree  to  temporary 
disfranchisement  as  a  matter  of  precaution,  but  was 
not  disposed  to  adopt  the  policy  of  disfranchise 
ment.  He  declared  his  belief  to  be  that  impartial 
or  universal  suffrage  was  the  only  reconstruction 
that  would  give  safety  hereafter.  "I  dotiot  wish," 
he  said,  "the  suffrage  restricted  by  any  educational 
qualifications ;  nor  do  I  wish  it  restricted  by  any 
property  qualifications.  I  want  it  simple  and  abso 
lute,  a  right  of  human  nature,  which  is  as  much  a 


IN    CONGRESS.  281 

right  as  any  oilier  of  self-defense  in  political  com 
munities  or  out  of  political  communities." 

Mr.  Wilson  of  Massachusetts  moved  to  strike  out 
of  Mr.  Merrill's  amendment  requiring  ability  to 
read  the  Constitution  in  the  English  language,  the 
words  "  in  the  English  language."  He  was  opposed 
to  the  reading  and  writing  qualification,  had  op 
posed,  its  incorporation  into  the  Constitution  of 
Massachusetts.  "But  why,"  he  inquired,  "tell  a 
German,  a  man  of  intelligence  and  character,  that 
he  must  read  the  Constitution  in  the  English  lan 
guage  ?  Why  say  to  the  Frenchman,  or  to  any 
other  foreigner  who  comes  here,  that  he  must  be 
able  to  read  and  write  in  the  English  language  ?  In 
my  opinion  we  had  better  meet  the  question  square 
ly  on  the  manhood  of  the  case." 

Mr.  Morrill  qualified  his  amendment  by  striking 
out  the  words  "in  the  English  language."  Mr. 
Grimes  of  Iowa  thought  the  adoption  of  an  amend 
ment  requiring  the  reading  of  the  Constitution 
would  lead  to  complication.  Mr.  Morrill,  in  reply 
to  an  inquiry  of  Mr.  Sumner  concerning  the  Sen 
ate  and  House  bills,  stated  that  Mr.  Wade's  bill  was 
first  introduced — that  the  Senate  bill  was  an  elec 
tion  bill,  and  the  House  bill  a  mere  declaration  of 
the  principle  of  universal  suffrage. 

The  question  was  then  taken  on  Mr.  Merrill's 
amendment  to  require  as  a  qualification  reading 
and  writing,  and  it  was  lost. — Yeas  15,  nays  19. 

Mr.  Willey  of  West  Virginia  moved  to  amend 


282  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

the  bill  by  striking  out  the  first  section  and  provid 
ing  that  the  class  of  persons  named  shall  vote  ;  first, 
all  those  persons  who  were  actually  residents  and 
qualified  to  vote  at  the  elections  held  in  186'5  : 
second,  all  residents  who  have  been  duly  mustered 
into  the  military  or  naval  service  during  the  late 
rebellion,  and  honorably  discharged :  third,  male 
citizens  who  shall  have  attained  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  years,  (excepting  paupers,  persons  non  com 
pos  mentis  or  convicted  of  an  infamous  offense,) 
and  who,  being  residents  of  the  ward  or  district  in 
which  they  shall  offer  to  vote,  shall  have  resided  in 
said  District  for  the  period  of  one  year  next  pre 
ceding  any  election,  and  who  shall  have  paid  the 
taxes  assessed  against  them,  and  who  can  read  and 
write. 

Mr.  Willey  then  delivered  an  elaborate  and  able 
speech  in  favor  of  the  plan  he  proposed.  The  bill 
then  went  over  to  the  next  day  and  its  considera 
tion  was  not  resumed  during  the  session.  The  pres 
sure  of  business,  the  fact  that  no  election  would  be 
held  until  after  the  close  of  the  next  session,  the 
importance  of  adopting  in  the  District  manhood 
suffrage,  pure  and  simple,  the  probability  of  a  veto, 
and  the  uncertainty  of  carrying  an  unqualified  suf 
frage  bill  over  the  veto,  induced  the  friends  of  uni 
versal  suffrage  to  allow  the  measure  to  go  over  to 
the  next  session. 

In  the  Senate  on  the  10th  of  December,  Mr.  Mor- 
rill  moved  to  proceed  to  the  consideration  of  the 


IN   CONGRESS.  283 

bill  to  regulate  the  elective  franchise,  and  to  extend 
and  enlarge  it  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  The 
pending  question  was  on  Mr.  Willey's  amendment 
to  Mr.  Merrill's  substitute  for  Mr.  Wade's  bill.  Mr. 
Merrill  advocated  the  bill,  defining  it  to  be  "impar 
tial  restricted  suffrage." 

Mr.  Willey  declared  his  amendment  to  be  based 
on  the  ground  that  he  who  had  been  thought  wor 
thy  of  bearing  the  bayonet  and  of  perilling  his  life 
for  the  institutions  of  the  country  should  be  en 
titled  to  the  right  of  suffrage,  no  matter  whether 
he  could  read  or  whether  he  could  write  his  name 
or  not. 

Mr.  Wilson  hoped  Mr.  Willey's  amendment  would 
be  voted  down ;  he  was  against  the  reading  and 
writing  qualification.  "I  think,"  he  said,  "the  vic 
tory  of  manhood  suffrage  is  about  achieved  in  this 
country.  I  think  we  are  in  a  position  where  we  can 
command  it,  and  I  am  for  commanding  it ;  and  I 
am  for  beginning  now  in  this  District  where  we 
have  the  absolute  control  and  power." 

Mr.  Anthony  of  Rhode  Island  moved  to  amend 
Mr.  Willey's  amendment  by  adding  that  no  person 
should  have  the  right  to  vote  who  gave  aid  to  the 
enemy  during  the  rebellion.  Mr.  Wilson  thought 
the  amendment  would  affect  but  few  persons,  and 
ought  not  to  be  passed ;  that  "  disfranchisement 
would  create  more  bitterness  than  enfranchisement." 
He  said  that  the  laboring  men  of  the  nation  desired 
"just,  equal  and  humane  laws.  Many  men  who  are 


284  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

not  able  to  read  and  write  are  pure,  high-minded, 
true  men,  who  love  their  country  and  love  justice. 
These  men  have  made  a  better  record  for  the  last 
thirty  years  for  country,  for  liberty,  for  justice  and 
humanity  than  have  some  of  the  most  learned  men 
in  the  land." 

Mr.  Pomeroy  was  in  favor  of  incorporating  Mr. 
Anthony's  amendment  into  the  bill ;  and  Mr.  An 
thony  said  :  "there  is  no  class  of  people,  black  or 
white,  male  or  female,  old  or  young,  that  I  would 
disfranchise  so  quickly,  or  that  I  would  enfranchise 
so  reluctantly,  as  those  who  have  taken  up  arms 
against  the  country;  and  all  the  embitterment 
which  that  may  cause,  and  I  have  no  doubt  it  will 
cause  a  great  deal,  is  a  very  healthy  embitterment, 
which  I  think  we  should  not  attempt  to  conciliate, 
but  should  rather  put  down." 

The  amendment  was  strenuously  opposed  by  Mr. 
Cowan,  and  Mr.  Brown  declared  his  purpose  to  vote 
against  it.  Mr.  Anthony's  amendment  was  adopted. 
The  question  recurring  on  the  amendment  moved 
by  Mr.  Willey,  Mr.  Cowan  moved  to  strike  out  the 
provision  requiring  the  payment  of  taxes  as  a  con 
dition  of  suffrage.  Mr.  Sherman  was  opposed  to 
requiring  reading  and  writing  as  a  condition.  Mr. 
Saulsbury  would  exclude  no  white  man  from  exer 
cising  the  right  because  he  could  not  read  or  write ; 
he  could  "not  vote  for  negro  suffrage  under  any 
circumstances,  or  with  the  requirement  of  any 
amount  of  education."  Mr.  Conness  withdrew  his 


IN   CONGRESS.  285 

amendment  as  Mr.  Willey  had  abandoned  his  amend 
ment.  On  motion  of  Mr.  Morrill  the  bill  was 
amended  by  requiring  a  residence  of  one  year  in 
stead  of  six  months  in  the  District ;  and  on  motion 
of  Mr.  Wilson  it  was  further  amended  by  requiring 
a  residence  of  three  months  in  the  ward  or  election 
precinct  in  which  he  shall  offer  to  vote.  Mr.  Cowan 
moved  to  amend  by  striking  out  the  word  "male" 
before  "person"  in  the  first  section  of  Mr.  Merrill's 
substitute. 

On  the  llth  the  debate  was  resumed  by  Mr.  An 
thony  in  favor  of  Mr.  Cowan's  amendment.  He 
supposed  Mr.  Cowan  had  introduced  the  amend 
ment  as  a  satire  upon  the  bill  or  with  a  mischievous 
intention  to  injure  it.  "  I  know  very  well/'  he  said, 
"that  this  discussion  is  idle  and  of  no  effect,  and  I 
am  not  going  to  pursue  it.  I  should  not  have  in 
troduced  this  question,  but  as  it  has  been  intro 
duced,  and  I  intend  to  vote  for  the  amendment,  I 
desire  to  declare  here  that  I  shall  vote  for  it  in  all 
seriousness  because  I  think  it  is  right." 

"To  extend  the  right  of  suffrage,"  said  Mr.  Wil 
liams,  "to  the  negroes  in  this  country  I  think  is 
necessary  for  their  protection ;  but  to  extend  the 
right  of  suffrage  to  women,  in  my  judgment,  is  not 
necessary  for  their  protection." 

"I  know  it  has  been  said,"  replied  Mr.  Cowan, 
"that  the  woman  is  represented  by  her  husband, 
represented  by  the  male ;  and  yet  we  know  how 
she  has  been  represented  by  her  husband  in  by- 


286  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

gone  times ;  we  know  how  she  is  represented  by 
her  barbarian  husband  ;  and  let  him  who  wants  to 
know  how  she  is  represented  by  her  civilized  hus 
band  go  to  her  speeches  made  in  the  recent  woman's 
rights  convention.  "We  know  how  she  has  been 
represented  by  her  barbarian  husband  in  the  past 
and  is  even  at  the  present.  She  bears  his  burdens, 
she  bears  his  children,  she  nurses  them,  she  does 
his  work,  she  chops  his  wood,  and  she  grinds  his 
corn ;  while  he,  forsooth,  by  virtue  of  this  patent 
of  nobility  that  he  has  derived,  in  consequence  of 
his  masculinity,  from  Heaven,  confines  himself  to 
the  manly  occupations  of  hunting  and  fishing  and 


war." 


Mr.  Cowan  begged  to  assure  everybody  that  he 
was  u  serious  and  in  earnest  in  urging  this  amend 
ment;  in  dead  earnest,  in  good  earnest."  "The 
honorable  Senator,"  replied  Mr.  Morrill,  "  began  by 
saying  he  was  in  earnest  and  he  concludes  by  affirm 
ing  the  same  thing.  Does  any  one  suppose  he  is 
at  all  in  earnest  or  sincere  in  a  single  sentiment  he 
has  uttered  on  this  subject?"  Mr.  Cowan  had 
struggled  against  change,  but  if  changes  were  to  be 
made  he  wished  them  to  be  rightly  directed.  "  You 
are  determined,"  he  said,  "to  open  the  privilege  of 
the  ballot  to  the  negroes.  I  appeal  to  you  to  open 
it  to  the  women." 

Mr.  Wade  had  introduced  the  original  bill,  and 
had,  he  said,  put  it  upon  the  liberal  principle  of 
franchise.  The  question  of  female  suffrage  had 


IN    CONGRESS.  28*7 

not  been  much  agitated,  and  he  knew  the  commu 
nity  had  not  thought  enough  upon  it  to  introduce 
it  into  their  political  system.  He  maintained  that 
the  rights  of  women  rested  upon  the  same  foundar 
tion,  that  they  were  kept  down  by  prejudice  and 
that  the  time  was  approaching  when  "  every  female 
in  the  country  will  be  made  responsible  for  the  just 
government  of  our  country  as  much  as  the  male ; 
her  right  to  participate  in  the  Government  will  be 
just  as  unquestioned  as  that  of  the  male." 

Mr.  Yates  said,  "the  question  whether  ladies  shall 
vote  or  not  is  not  at  issue  now,  we  have  but  one 
straight-forward  course  to  pursue  in  this  matter." 
Mr.  Wilson  said  Mr.  Cowan  had  demanded  an  ex 
pression  of  concurrence  or  opposition  to  his  amend 
ment,  and  he  would  tell  him  he  should  vote  against 
it.  "I  am,"  he  declared,  "opposed  to  connecting 
together  these  two  questions,  the  enfranchisement 
of  black  men  and  the  enfranchisement  of  women." 

The  amendment  was  opposed  by  Mr.  Johnson, 
who  declared  that  "nature  had  not  made  women 
for  the  rough  and  tumble,  so  to  speak,  of  life.  She 
is  intended  to  be  delicate.  She  is  intended  to  soften 
the  asperities  and  roughness  of  the  male  sex.  She 
is  intended  to  comfort  him  in  the  days  of  his  trial, 
not  to  participate  herself  actively  in  the  contest 
either  in  the  forum,  in  the  council  chamber,  or  on 
the  battle-field."  Mr.  Frelinghuysen  thought  the 
women  of  New  Jersey  did  not  desire  to  vote.  "I 
confess,"  he  said,  "a  little  surprise  at  the  remark 


288  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

which  has  been  so  frequently  made  in  the  Senate, 
that  there  is  no  difference  between  granting  suffrage 
to  colored  citizens  and  extending  it  to  the  women 
of  America." 

On  the  12th  the  debate  was  continued  by  Mr. 
Brown,  who  emphatically  declared,  "I  have  to  say 
then,  sir,  here  on  the  floor  of  the  American  Senate, 
I  stand  for  universal  suffrage,  and  as  a  matter  of 
fundamental  principle  do  not  recognize  the  right  of 
society  to  limit  it  on  any  ground  of  race,  color,  or 
sex.  I  will  go  further  and  say  that  I  recognize  the 
right  of  franchise  as  being  intrinsically  a  natural 
right ;  and  I  do  not  believe  that  society  is  author 
ized  to  impose  any  limitation  upon  it  that  does  not 
spring  out  of  the  necessities  of  the  social  state 
itself." 

Mr.  Davis  declared  that  a  systematic  assault  was 
being  made  upon  the  fundamental  princip^s  of 
American  liberty,  and  the  bill  was  one  of  the  at 
tacks.  Mr.  Davis  scouted  the  vaunted  radical  position 
of  the  equality  of  races,  that  the  negro  must  be  the 
equal  of  the  white  man  before  the  la  w,  expressing  the 
conviction  that  a  terrible  time  was  coming  in  which 
the  people  of  the  South  would  be  required  to  exer 
cise  their  truest  heroism ;  he  closed  by  saying : 
"Men  of  the  South,  exhaust  every  peaceful  means 
of  redress,  and  when  your  oppressions  become  un 
endurable,  and  it  is  demonstrated  that  there  is  no 
other  hope,  then  strike  for  your  liberty,  and  strike 
as  did  your  fathers  in  1776,  and  as  did  the  Holland- 


IX    CONGRESS.  289 

ers  and  Zealanders,  led  by  William  the  Silent,  to 
break  their  chains  forged  by  the  tyrants  of  Spain." 

"The  advocates  of  the  interests  of  the  South," 
said  Mr.  Sprague,  "are  aristocratic;  those  of  the 
North  are  democratic,  and  these  ideas  represent  re 
spectively  the  education  of  the  two  people.  One's 
education  has  been  to  sustain  class  interests,  the 
other  the  interests  of  the  whole  people  in  opposi 
tion  to  those  of  a  class.  The  Constitution  is 
brought  in  to  sustain  respectively  these  ideas.  Con 
stitutions  have  heretofore  been  forced  from  power, 
from  a  class,  for  the  protection  and  in  the  interest 
of  the  mass  of  the  people,  never  given  by  a  people 
willingly  to  a  class  for  their  own  subjugation."  He 
maintained  that  in  protecting  and  securing  South 
ern  institutions,  and  maintaining  Southern  ideas, 
the  people  of  the  South  were  kept  in  poverty,  vice 
and  degradation,  in  order  that  a  class  might  be  ele 
vated,  and  he  invoked  action  as  delay  was  danger 
ous  and  criminal. 

Mr.  Buckalew  avowed  his  purpose  to  vote  for 
the  amendment,  as  the  vote  was  not  final.  He  pre 
dicted  that  those  who  resisted  "the  extension  of 
suffrage  in  this  country  will  be  unsuccessful  in  their 
opposition  ;  they  will  be  overborne,  unless  they  as 
sume  grounds  of  a  more  commanding  character 
than  those  which  they  have  here  maintained.  This 
subject  of  the  extension  of  suffrage  must  be  put 
upon  practical  grounds  and  extricated  from  the 
19 


290  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

sophisms  of  the  theoretical  reasoning.  Gentlemen 
must  get  out  of  the  domain  of  theory." 

Mr.  Doolittle  would  vote  against  the  amendment. 
"For  myself/'  he  said,  "after  giving  some  consider 
able  reflection  to  the  subject  of  suffrage,  I  have 
arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  the  true  base  or  foun 
dation  upon  which  to  rest  suffrage  in  any  republican 
community  is  upon  the  family,  the  head  of  the 
family ;  because  in  civilized  society  the  family  is  the 
unit,  not  the  individual." 

Mr.  Pomeroy  did  not  wish  to  weigh  down  the  bill 
with  Mr.  Cowan's  amendment  or  anything  else. 
"  This  is,"  he  said,  "  a  great  measure  in  itself.  Since 
I  have  been  a  member  of  the  Senate,  there  was  a 
law  in  this  District  authorizing  the  selling  of  these 
people."  The  question  w^as  then  taken  on  Mr. 
^Cowan's  motion  to  strike  out  the  word  "male,"  and 
it  was  rejected. — Yeas  9,  nays  37. 

Mr.  Dixon  then  moved  to  amend  the  bill  by 
adding  that  no  person  who  had  not  voted  in  the 
.District  should  vote  unless  he  should  be  able  to  read 
•and  to  write  his  name.  Mr.  Dixon  spoke  briefly  in 
favor  of  the  amendment,  for  "  what  was  just  in  Massa 
chusetts  could  not  be  unjust  in  the  District,"  Mr. 
Hendricks  said,  "as  a  general  proposition  I  am  not 
in  favor  of  basing  the  right  to  vote  upon  the  in 
telligence  of  the  voter ;  and  in  regulating  the  right 
of  voting  among  white  people  I  should  not  vote 
for  such  a  proposition ;  but  as  it  is  now  proposed  to 
introduce  into  the  citizenship  of  this  District  a 


IN   CONGRESS.  291 

large  class  of  persons  who  are  known  to  be  very 
ill-qualified  to  exercise  the  right  of  franchise,  I  feel 
it  to  be  my  duty  in  regard  to  them  to  vote  for  this 
qualification." 

Mr.  Saulsbury  contended  for  the  inferiority  of 
the  negro  race.  He  charged  that  "instead  of  the  \s 
doctrine  of  the  inferiority  of  race  being  a  doctrine 
of  infidelity,  the  assumption  of  the  equality  of 
races  is  itself  infidelity,  because  it  is  a  denial  of  the 
Scriptures." 

On  the  13th  the  Senate  resumed  the  considera 
tion  of  the  bill,  and  Mr.  Cowan  spoke  briefly  in  op 
position  to  Mr.  Dixon's  amendment.  Mr.  Foster, 
President  of  the  Senate,  strongly  advocated  the 
amendment  of  his  colleague.  "The  honorable  Sen 
ator  from  Pennsylvania,"  he  said,  "from  the  man 
ner  in  which  he  treats  this  subject,  I  should  think 
was  now  fresh  from  his  reading  of  'Much  Ado  about 
Nothing/  and  was  quoting  Mr.  Justice  Dogberry, 
who  said,  I  believe — the  honorable  Senator  will  cor 
rect  me  if  I  misquote,  for  he  is  very  fresh  in  his 
readings  of  the  English  and  other  classics — <to  be 
a  well-favored  man  is  the  gift  of  fortune,  but  to 
read  and  write  comes  by  nature.'  Like  that  very 
high  authority,  Mr.  Justice  Dogberry,  the  honorable 
Senator  from  Pennsylvania  and  the  honorable  Sen 
ator  from  Delaware,  and  I  am  sorry  to  include  in 
the  same  category  the  honorable  Senator  from  Mas 
sachusetts,  seem  inclined  to  say — 'away  with  writ 
ing  and  reading  till  there  is  need  of  such  vanity/  " 


292  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

Mr.  Foster  was  not  prepared  for  "suffrage  without 
intelligence  and  without  morality.  If  the  reading 
and  writing  test  was  adopted,  he  should  vote  for 
the  hill ;  if  it  was  rejected  he  could  not  do  so.  He 
said:  "The  honorable  Senator  from  Massachusetts 
says  he  wants  to  put  the  ballot  into  the  hands  of 
the  black  man  for  his  protection.  If  he  cannot  read 
the  ballot,  what  kind  of  protection  is  it  to  him  ?  A 
written  or  printed  slip  of  paper  is  put  into  the 
hands  of  a  man,  black  or  white,  and  if  he  cannot 
read  it,  what  is  it  to  him  ?  What  does  he  know 
about  it  ?  What  can  he  do  with  it  ?  How  can  he 
protect  himself  by  it  ?  As  well  might  the  honor 
able  Senator  from  Massachusetts  put  in  the  hands 
of  a  child  who  knew  nothing  of  firearms  a  loaded 
pistol  with  which  to  protect  himself  against  his 
enemies."  Mr.  Foster  was  followed  by  Mr.  Cowan, 
who  thought  Connecticut  could  get  along  very  well 
without  the  reading  and  writing  test,  if  they  were 
allowed  to  go  as  Dogberry  said,  simply  by  the  light 
of  nature.  He  thought  the  ability  of  that  State 
in  restraining  ignorant  masses  by  such  means,  about 
equal  to  another  test  they  applied  a  good  while 
ago,  and  that  was  that  "no  girl  should  get  married 
until  she  could  bake  a  doughnut  that  would  pre 
serve  its  twist  for  a  year."  Mr.  Foster  thought  the 
Senator  mistaken — that  must  have  been  a  "Penn 
sylvania  law."  "It  may,"  replied  Mr.  Cowan,  "have 
originated  in  Pennsylvania,  but  it  has  not  been  ap 
plied  since  my  knowledge  of  the  State  commenced. 


IN   CONGRESS.  293 

I  am  very  well  satisfied  that  girls  can  get  married 
there  and  do  get  married  there  every  day,  I  am 
sure,  without  being  able  to  bake  a  doughnut  at  all." 
Mr.  Frelinghuysen  said  :  "In  view  of  all  the  case 
and  all  the  circumstances  of  the  country,  I  shall  be 
constrained  to  try  the  experiment  here,  so  far  as 
my  vote  is  concerned,  by  making  the  elective  fran 
chise  universal."  "I  regard  this  amendment,"  said 
Mr.  Wilson  in  reply  to  Mr.  Foster,  "  as  a  proposition^ 
against  school-houses  for  the  education  of  the  color 
ed  men  of  this  District ;  if  not  to  tear  clown  the 
school-houses  for  the  education  of  the  black  man, 
it  is  to  prevent  the  erection  of  the  school  house  for 
the  education  of  the  black  man.  Who  is  to  pass 
upon  this  qualification  of  reading  and  writing? 
The  man  who  has  voted  that  the  black  man  shall  ^ 
not  vote  at  all  ?  It  is  proposed  here  in  Congress  to 
allow  the  man  who  has  voted  that  the  black  man 
shall  not  vote  at  all  to  say  whether  he  can  read  and 
write  well  enough  to  vote. 

#*:*:£#  ### 

Sir,  I  believe  in  the  right  of  suffrage  for  my 
country.  I  believe  in  it  far  more  for  the  poor  ig 
norant  man.  I  believe  that  he  is  more  of  a  man 
when  he  has  it,  and  that  he  will  use  it  in  the  future 
as  he  has  in  the  past,  generally  for  the  elevation 
and  protection  of  the  poor  and  lowly  and  depen 
dent.  No  loyal  man  who  has  the  right  of  suffrage 
shall  ever  have  it  taken  away  or  abridged  by  me 
unless  for  crime.  No  poor  laboring  man  shall  ever 


294  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

accuse  me  before  the  bar  of  man  or  of  God  of  vot 
ing  against  giving  him  the  same  right  that  I  possess 
to  go  to  the  ballot-box." 

Mr.  Hendricks  attributed  the  intelligence  found 
among  many  men  in  the  West  who  could  not  read, 
to  their  attendance  on  public  meetings  and  the 
courts  where  the  principles  of  the  government  are 
discussed,  but  the  freedmen  had  none  of  these  op 
portunities. 

Mr.  Lane  made  an  eloquent  appeal  for  the  pas 
sage  of  the  bill;  he  said:  "I  shall  vote  to  enfran 
chise  the  colored  residents  of  this  District  because 
I  believe  it  is  right,  just,  and  proper,  because  I  be 
lieve  it  is  in  accordance  with  those  two  grand  cen 
tral  truths  around  which  cluster  every  hope  for  re 
deemed  humanity,  the  common  fatherhood  of  God 
above  us  and  the  brotherhood  of  universal  man 
kind.  I  go  to  the  original  principle  and  right  of  the 
question,  and  hence  I  shall  vote  to  enfranchise  the 
colored  people  of  this  District. 

****%%%:% 

To-day  I  vote  to  enfranchise  the  colored  people 
in  the  District  of  Columbia.  I  do  it  proudly.  I 
believe  the  people  demand  it.  I  have  never  dodged 
the  issue.  I  have  been  ready  to  vote  for  it  for  the 
last  six  years,  I  am  ready  to  vote  for  it  now,  and  I 
give  this  vote  with  more  pride  and  as  much  pleas 
ure  as  I  have  given  any  vote  in  this  body." 

Mr.  Sumner  said  he  had  voted  against  striking 
out  the  word  "male,"  and  he  should  vote  against 


IN   CONGRESS.  295 

the  educational  test ;  in  each  case  he  was  governed 
by  the  same  consideration.  "The  bill/'  he  said,  "is 
the  enfranchisement  of  the  colored  race  in  the  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia.  It  completes  Emancipation  by 
Enfranchisement.  It  entitles  all  to  vote  without 
distinction  of  color.  The  courts,  and  the  rail-cars 
of  the  District,  even  the  galleries  of  Congress,  have 
been  opened  to  colored  persons.  It  only  remains 
that  the  ballot-box  be  opened  to  them.  Such  is  my 
sense  not  only  of  the  importance  but  of  the  neces 
sity  of  this  measure ;  so  essential  does  it  appear  to 
me  for  the  establishment  of  peace,  security,  and 
reconciliation,  that  I  am  unwilling  that  it  shall  be 
clogged,  burdened,  or  embarrassed  by  anything  else. 
I  wish  to  vote  on  this  measure  alone.  Therefore, 
whatever  may  be  the  merits  of  other  questions,  I 
shall  have  no  difficulty  in  putting  them  aside  until 
this  is  settled." 

Mr.  Dixon's  amendment  to  make  reading  and 
writing  a  test  was  then  rejected. — Yeas  11,  nays 
34.  Mr.  Wilson  moved  to  amend  the  bill  by  adding 
two  new  sections,  one  section  making  it  unlawful 
to  buy  votes  and  punishing  any  man  for  attempting 
to  buy  votes ;  the  other  section  punishing  the  voter 
who  should  sell  his  vote.  The  amendment  was 
agreed  to.  The  yeas  and  nays  were  then  ordered, 
on  motion  of  Mr.  Saulsbury,  on  the  passage  of  the 
bill,  and  resulted — Yeas  32,  nays  13.  The  an 
nouncement  of  the  passage  of  the  bill  was  greeted 
with  enthusiastic  applause  by  the  galleries. 


296  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

In  the  House  on  the  14th  of  December,  the  bill 
was  taken  up  and  Mr.  Ingersoll  of  Illinois  moved 
the  previous  question  on  its  passage.  The  yeas 
and  nays  were  ordered  on  motion  of  Mr.  Niblack 
of  Indiana,  and  the  bill  passed. — Yeas  118,  nays  46. 

In  the  Senate  on  the  7th  of  January,  1867,  a 
message  was  received  from  the  President  giving  his 
reasons  for  not  signing  the  bill.  After  the  message 
had  been  read,  Mr.  Saulsbury  moved  to  postpone 
its  consideration  until  the  next  day.  Mr.  Morrill 
opposed  the  motion  and  it  was  not  agreed  to,  and 
the  Senate  proceeded  to  its  consideration.  Mr. 
Morrill  briefly  reviewed  the  message,  and  Mr.  Sher 
man  expressed  his  belief  "that  experience  will  de 
monstrate  the  wisdom  of  this  act  as  it  has  the  kin 
dred  act  of  emancipation  in  this  District."  Mr. 
Cowan  followed  in  opposition  to  the  bill  and  in  sup 
port  of  the  veto.  He  emphatically  declared  that 
"the  right  of  life,  liberty,  property,  is  the  gift  of 
God ;  the  right  to  vote  and  the  right  to  hold  office, 
which  is  the  same  thing,  is  the  gift  of  the  commu 
nity.  That  is  all.  The  negro  who  is  prevented 
from  having  a  vote  in  a  community  has  no  more 
right  to  complain  of  it  than  the  defeated  candidate 
after  the  election  has  a  right  to  complain.  Why  ? 
Because  who  shall  vote  is  a  question  of  expediency 
and  policy  for  the  community  to  decide."  Mr.  \Yil- 
liams  spoke  for  the  measure,  and  Mr.  Johnson  and 
Mr,  Doolittle  followed  in  opposition.  The  question 


IN   CONGRESS.  297 

was  then  taken  and  the  bill  passed  over  the  veto. — 
Yeas  29,  nays  10. 

In  the  House  on  the  8th  the  President's  veto 
message  was  read,  the  previous  question  ordered  on 
motion  of  Mr.  Ingersoll  of  Illinois,  and  the  bill 
passed. — Yeas  113,  nays  38.  Speaker  Colfax  then 
said :  "  On  the  question  whether  the  House,  on  re 
consideration,  agrees  to  the  passage  of  this  law,  the 
yeas  are  113,  the  nays  38.  It  having  been  certified 
that  the  Senate,  upon  a  reconsideration  of  the  pass 
age  of  this  bill,  agrees  to  its  passage  by  a  two-thirds' 
vote,  and  the  House  of  Eepresentatives,  upon  a 
similar  reconsideration,  having  agreed  to  its  passage 
by  a  two-thirds'  vote,  I  therefore,  according  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  do  declare  that, 
notwithstanding  the  objections  of  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  the  act  to  regulate  the  elective 
franchise  in  the  District  of  Columbia  has  become  a 
law." 


CHAPTEE 


SUFFRAGE  IN  THE  TERRITORIES. 

Mr.  Ashley's  Bill.  —  Motion  of  Mr.  Le  Blond.  —  Remarks  of  Mr.  Spaulding 
and  Mr.  Le  Blond.  —  Bill  passed.  —  Mr.  Wade  reported  House  Bill  with 
amendments.  —  Motion  of  Mr.  Buckalew.  —  Speech  of  Mr.  Wade.  —  Re 
marks  of  Mr.  Buckalew.  —  Speech  of  Mr.  Saulsbury.  —  Bill  postponed.  — 
Mr.  Wade's  substitute.  —  Amendment  modified.  —  Bill  passed.  —  Mr.  Wade's 
motion.  —  Mr.  Ashley's  motion.  —  House  concurred. 

IN  the  House  of  Kepresentatives  on  the  24th  of 
April,  1866,  Mr.  Ashley  of  Ohio  introduced  a  bill  to 
amend  the  organic  acts  of  the  Territories  of  the 
United  States,  which  was  referred  to  the  Territorial 
Committee  of  wiich  he  was  chairman.  On  the 
26th  Mr.  Ashley  reported  it  without  amendment, 
and  it  was  ordered  to  be  printed  and  recommitted. 
Mr.  Ashley,  on  the  3d  of  May,  reported  it  back 
without  amendment.  On  the  15th  the  bill  came 
up  for  consideration,  and  Mr.  Ashley  moved  an 
amendment  in  the  nature  of  a  substitute.  Mr.  Le 
Blond  of  Ohio  moved  to  strike  out  the  9th  section 
of  the  amendment  which  provided  that  "within  the 
Territories  aforesaid  there  shall  be  no  denial  of  the 
elective  franchise  to  citizens  of  the  United  States 


IN    CONGRESS.  299 

because  of  race  or  color,  and  all  persons  shall  be 
equal  before  the  law."  Mr.  Spalding  declared  his 
intention  to  vote  against  the  bill  if  that  provision 
was  stricken  out.  Mr.  Le  Blond  denied  the  power 
of  Congress  to  say  to  the  people  of  the  Territories, 
"you  shall  extend  the  right  of  suffrage  to  all  your 
citizens  irrespective  of  color."  He  had  made  the 
motion  to  raise  directly  the  issue  whether  Congress 
was  in  favor  of  granting  to  all  persons,  irrespective 
of  color,  the  right  of  suffrage.  "I  conceive,"  he 
said,  "that  this  provision  of  the  bill  before  us  has 
and  can  have  no  other  purpose  than  to  carry  out 
this  cherished  idea  that  all  men  should  be  made 
equal  before  the  law."  He  declared  that  those  who 
voted  "  against  striking  out  the  section,  would  place 
themselves  on  record  in  favor  of  equal  suffrage 
throughout  the  country." 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Ashley  the  House  ordered  the 
previous  question.  Mr.  Le  Blond's  motion  to  strike 
out  the  suffrage  section  was  lost. — Yeas  36,  nays 
76.  Mr.  Ashley's  substitute  was  then  agreed  to  and 
the  bill  passed. — Yeas  79,  nays  43. 

In  the  Senate  on  the  31st  of  May,  Mr.  Wade 
from  the  Committee  on  Territories,  reported  the 
House  bill  to  amend  the  organic  acts  of  the  Terri 
tories,  with  amendments.  On  the  29th  of  June, 
the  Senate  on  motion  of  Mr.  Wade,  proceeded  to 
consider  the  bill,  and  Mr.  Buckalew  of  Pennsylva 
nia  moved  to  strike  out  the  section  regulating  suf 
frage.  Mr.  Wade  hoped  it  would  not  be  stricken 


300  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

out.  "For  myself/'  said  Mr.  "VVade,  "at  this  period 
of  the  session  and  in  this  year  of  grace,  I  surely 
need  not  say  that  I  am  for  the  most  extensive  right 
of  suffrage  to  every  human  being  who  is  rational, 
who  is  above  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  and  who 
is  a  citizen  of  the  United  States.  I  am  for  that  on 
all  occasions.  I  am  inclined  to  think  and  I  do  be 
lieve  that  it  is  one  of  those  inherent  and  <  inalien 
able'  rights  which  were  alluded  to  by  our  fathers 
in  that  great  Declaration  which  has  had  so  much 
effect  upon  the  destinies  of  the  world." 

Mr.  Buckalew  said  that  Mr.  Wade  desired  by  the 
passage  of  the  bill,  "to  dictate  to  those  Territories 
the  form  of  constitutions  which  they  may  hereafter 
make  for  themselves  preparatory  to  their  admission 
into  the  Union.  Our  old  doctrine  and  our  correct 
doctrine,  as  I  understand  it,  has  been  that  the  con 
stitution  made  by  a  new  State,  or  made  by  the  in 
habitants  of  a  Territory  preparatory  to  their  ad 
mission  into  the  Union  as  a  State,  shall  be  their  own 
work,  completely  and  entirely,  in  every  respect 
whatever,  except  that  it  must  be  republican  in 
form." 

On  the  22d  of  July  the  bill  was  again  taken  up, 
and  Mr.  Saulsbury  spoke  in  opposition  to  its  pass 
age.  He  declared  that  "there  never  was  a  greater 
humbug  preached  upon  earth  as  from  the  Almighty, 
than  the  equality  of  races." 

Mr.  Stewart  maintained  that  equality  had  noth 
ing  to  do  with  the  right  of  suffrage.  On  motion 


IN   CONGRESS.  301 

of  Mr.  Conness,  with  the  assent  of  Mr.  Wade,  the 
bill  was  postponed  to  the  next  day  and  was  not 
again  taken  up  during  the  session. 

On  the  9th  of  January,  1867,  on  motion  of  Mr. 
Wade,  the  Senate  proceeded  to  the  consideration 
of  the  bill.  The  question  being  on  the  motion  of 
Mr.  Buckalew  to  strike  out  the  9th  section  relating 
to  suffrage,  it  was  stricken  out  for  the  purpose  of 
allowing  Mr.  Wade  to  move  a  substitute  for  the 
original  bill.  Mr.  Wade  then  moved  to  strike  out 
all  after  the  enacting  clause,  and  insert  a  section 
providing,  "That  in  all  the  Territories  of  the  United 
States  there  shall  be  no  denial  to  citizens  of  the 
United  States  of  the  elective  franchise  by  reason 
of  race  or  color,  and  all  persons  shall  be  equal  be 
fore  the  law.  And  all  acts  or  parts  of  acts,  either 
of  Congress  or  of  the  Legislative  Assembly  of  any 
Territory,  inconsistent  with  the  provisions  of  this 
act,  shall  be  null  and  void."  Mr.  Williams  of  Ore 
gon  wished  Senators  to  remember  that  in  the  Terri 
tories  there  was  a  very  large  population  of  wild, 
untamed  Indians,  and  in  attempting  to  provide  for 
the  black  race,  he  thought  Senators  ought  not  to 
use  language  which  would  put  those  Indians,  wholly 
unable  to  perform  any  of  the  duties  of  citizens,  on 
an  equal  footing  with  the  white  people  of  the  Ter 
ritories. 

On  the  10th  the  Senate  resumed  the  considera 
tion  of  the  bill,  and  Mr.  Wade  modified  his  amend 
ment  so  as  to  read :  "  That  from  and  after  the  pas- 


302  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

sage  of  this  act  there  shall  be  no  denial  of  the 
elective  franchise  in  any  of  the  Territories  of  the 
United  States  to  any  citizen  thereof  on  account  of 
race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude  ;  and 
all  acts  or  part  of  acts,  either  of  Congress  or  of  the 
Legislative  Assemblies  of  said  Territories,  inconsist 
ent  with  the  provisions  of  this  act,  are  hereby  de 
clared  null  and  void."  The  amendment  was  agreed 
to,  and  the  bill  was  then  passed.— Yeas  24,  nays  7. 
On  motion  of  Mr.  Wade  the  title  was  amended 
so  as  to  read :  "A  bill  to  regulate  the  elective  fran 
chise  in  the  Territories  of  the  United  States."  On 
the  same  day  the  House,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Ashley 
of  Ohio,  concurred  in  the  amendments  of  the  Sen 
ate. — Yeas  104,  nays  38. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE  ADMISSION  OF  TENNESSEE. 

Joint  Resolution  reported  by  Mr.  Bingham. — Minority  report. — Mr.  Bing- 
ham's  substitute. — Substitute  agreed  to. — Speech  of  Mr.  Boutwell,  Mr. 
Bingham. — Resolution  passed. — Mr.  Trumbull's  Resolution. — Mr.  Trum- 
bull's  report. — Motion  of  Mr.  Suraner  rejected. — Motion  of  Mr.  Doolittle 
agreed  to. — Motion  of  Mr.  Trumbull.  Mr.  Sherman's  preamble  lost. — 
Mr.  Sprague's  amendment. — Mr.  Trumbull's  amendment  adopted. — 
Speech  of  Mr.  Brown. — Resolution  passed. — Mr.  Couness's  amendment. — 
House  agreed  to  the  Senate  amendment. — Joint  Resolution  passed. — 
Credentials  referred. — Report  of  committee  agreed  to. 

IN  the  House  of  Representatives  on  the  5th  of 
March,  1866,  Mr.  Bingham  of  Ohio,  from  the  select 
Joint  Committee  on  Reconstruction,  reported  a  joint 
resolution  for  the  admission  of  Tennessee,  together 
with  a  memorial  and  papers  relating  to  that  State. 
A  minority  report  was  made  by  Mr.  Rogers  of  New 
Jersey ;  and  Mr.  Washburne  of  Illinois  stated  that 
Mr.  Boutwell  of  Massachusetts  dissented,  with  him, 
from  the  majority  report,  and  asked  leave  to  make 
one  thereafter.  Leave  was  granted  and  the  reports 
made  and  to  be  made  were  ordered  to  be  printed. 
The  joint  resolution  was  then  recommitted  to  the 
Committee  on  Reconstruction,  and  a  motion  made 
by  Mr.  Bingham  to  reconsider  that  vote. 


304  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

On  the  19th  of  July  Mr.  Bingham  called  up  his 
motion  to  reconsider  the  vote  recommitting  the 
Joint  Resolution  for  the  admission  of  Tennessee. 
Mr.  Stevens  moved  that  the  motion  to  reconsider  be 
laid  on  the  table. — Yeas  31,  nays  92.  A  motion 
was  then  made  by  Mr.  Stevens  to  adjourn — Yeas 
49,  nays  71,  and  a  motion  to  adjourn  made  by  Mr. 
Benjamin  was  lost. — Yeas  46,  nays  68.  The  pre 
vious  question  was  then  ordered. — Yeas  71,  nays 
34.  Mr.  Allison  of  Iowa  moved  to  adjourn — lost. 
Yeas  43,  nays  63.  Mr.  Bingham's  motion  to  recon 
sider  was  then  agreed  to. — Yeas  70,  nays  27.  The 
motion  to  recommit  was  withdrawn  and  Mr.  Bing 
ham  offered  a  substitute  for  the  original  resolution. 

On  the  20th  the  House  proceeded  to  consider  the 
Joint  Resolution.  Mr.  Bingham's  substitute  set 
forth  that  Tennessee  had  in  good  faith  ratified  the 
article  of  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  proposed  by  the  Thirty-Ninth  Con 
gress,  and  had  also  shown,  to  the  satisfaction  of  Con 
gress,  by  a  proper  spirit  of  obedience  in  the  body 
of  her  people,  her  return  to  her  due  allegiance  to 
the  Government,  laws,  and  authority  of  the  United 
States :  Therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  the  State  of  Tennessee  is  hereby 
restored  to  her  former  proper,  practical  relation  to 
the  Union,  and  is  again  entitled  to  be  represented 
by  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress,  duly 
elected  and  qualified,  upon  their  taking  the  oaths  of 
office  required  by  existing  laws." 


UNIVERSITY 

IN    CONGRESS.  305 

Mr.  Bingham  renewed  the  motion  for  the  pre 
vious  question.  Mr.  Bout  well  asked  Mr.  Bingham 
to  yield  and  allow  him  to  offer  an  amendment  pro 
viding  that  whenever  Tennessee  should  have  ratified 
the  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  and  si  ould  have 
established  an  equal  and  just  system  of  suffrage  for 
all  male  citizens,  the  Senators  and  Representatives 
of  such  State,  if  found  duly  elected  and  qualified, 
might,  after  having  taken  the  required  oaths  of 
office,  be  admitted  into  Congress. 

Mr.  Bingham  declined  to  yield.  Mr.  Ward  of 
New  York  and  Mr.  Le  Blond  of  Ohio  desired  to 
offer  amendments,  but  Mr.  Bingham  persistently 
declined  to  yield,  and  the  House  ordered  the  pre 
vious  question.  Mr.  Bingham's  substitute  was 
agreed  to,  and  ordered  to  be  engrossed.  Mr. 
Jenckes  of  Rhode  Island  moved  to  reconsider  the 
vote  ordering  the  resolution  to  be  engrossed,  and 
the  House  on  motion  of  Mr.  Spalding  of  Ohio, 
laid  the  motion  on  the  table. — Yeas  104,  nays  29. 
A  separate  vote  on  the  preamble  was  taken,  and  it 
was  ordered  to  be  engrossed. — Yeas  87,  nays  48. 
Mr.  Bingham  then  demanded  the  previous  question 
on  the  passage  of  the  preamble  and  resolution,  and 
the  main  question  was  ordered.  On  motion  of  Mr. 
J.  L.  Thomas  of  Maryland,  the  yeas  and  nays  were 
ordered.  Mr.  Bingham  rising  to  close  the  debate 
yielded  to  Mr.  Boutwell  of  Massachusetts,  who  re 
marked  that  he  was  not  ignorant  that  the  vote  of 
the  House  showed  conclusively  its  purpose  to  pass 
20 


306  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

the  resolution  for  the  admission  of  Tennessee,  and 
while  conscious  that  his  words  would  fall  on  unwill 
ing  ears,  he  would  still  raise  his  voice  against  the 
consummation  of  the  scheme.  He  made  an  earnest 
and  eloquent  speech  against  the  measure  and  in 
closing  said:  "I  speak  under  the  impression,  the 
firm  conviction,  that  we  to-day  here  surrender  up 
the  cause  of  justice,  the  cause  of  the  country,  in 
the  vain  hope  that  the  admission  of  Tennessee  may 
work  somewhat  for  the  advantage  of  the  party 
which  has  controlled  the  country  during  these  last 
six  years.  We  surrender  the  rights  of  four  million 
people  ;  we  surrender  the  cause  of  justice ;  we  im 
peril  the  peace  and  endanger  the  prosperity  of  the 
country;  we  degrade  ourselves  as  a  great  party 
which  has  controlled  the  Government  in  the  most 
trying  times  in  the  history  of  the  world." 

Mr.  Higby  spoke  briefly  in  opposition,  and  Mr. 
Bingham  closed  the  debate  in  a  brief,  earnest  and 
effective  speech.  "There  stands,"  he  said,  "the 
amendment  ratified  by  Tennessee,  who  comes  with 
this  new  evangel,  'no  State  shall  deny  to  any  per 
son  within  its  jurisdiction  the  equal  protection  of 
the  laws.'  Let  this  provision  become  the  supreme 
law  of  every  State  of  the  Kepublic  by  the  omnipo 
tence  of  the  ballot,  and  justice  will  thereby  have 
achieved  a  triumph  long  waited  for  and  prayed  for 
by  the  oppressed  of  all  lands. 

Oh,  sir,  I  am  ashamed  that  a  man  should  stand 
here  and  tell  me  that  nothing  is  done  to  establish 


IN   CONGRESS.  307 

justice  when  a  State  lately  in  rebellion  ratifies  such 
a  provision  as  an  amendment  of  the  Constitution, 
and  conforms  its  own  laws  to  its  requirements.  No 
one  who  believes  that  amendment  essential  to  the 
safety  of  the  Republic,  and  that  it  is  the  highest 
possible  duty  he  owes  to  himself  and  the  country 
to  carry  that  amendment  into  the  Constitution,  can 
stand  here  and  taunt  me  as  having  surrendered  by 
its  advocacy  and  the  restoration  to  power  of  a  State 
which  in  good  faith  ratifies  it,  the  rights  of  loyal 
colored  men  or  of  any  men." 

He  continued  :  "  One  great  issue  has  been  finally 
and  I  trust  forever  settled  in  the  Republic  ;  the 
equality  of  all  men  before  the  law.  Another  issue, 
of  equal  moment  is  now  pending,  and  it  is  this : 
the  equality  of  the  States  and  the  right  of  the  ma 
jority  of  loyal  freemen  to  rule." 

Mr.  Miller  of  Pennsylvania  briefly  advocated  the 
resolution.  Mr.  Finck  of  Ohio  protested  against 
the  preamble  but  would  vote  for  the  resolution,  and 
Mr.  Eldridge  would  spit  on  the  preamble  and  vote 
'aye'  for  the  resolution,  which  was  passed. — Yeas 
125,  nays  12. 

In  the  Senate  on  the  19th  of  July,  Mr.  Trumbull 
introduced  a  joint  resolution  recognizing  the  Gov 
ernment  of  Tennessee,  which  was  read  twice  and 
laid  on  the  table.  On  the  20th  Mr.  Bingham's 
House  resolution  was  received  and  referred  to  the 
Judiciary  Committee.  Mr.  Trumbull  reported  it  on 
the  21st  with  an  amendment,  and  the  Senate  on 


308  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

his  motion  proceeded  to  its  consideration.  The 
Judiciary  Committee  proposed  to  strike  out  the 
preamble  and  resolution  of  the  House,  and  insert  a 
preamble  and  resolution  as  a  substitute.  It  was  to 
strike  out  the  preamble  and  resolution,  and  in  lieu 
thereof  to  insert : 

"Whereas  in  the  year  1861,  the  government  of  the 
State  of  Tennessee  was  seized  upon  and  taken  pos 
session  of  by  persons  in  hostility  to  the  United 
States,  and  the  inhabitants  of  said  State  in  pursu 
ance  of  an  act  of  Congress  were  declared  to  be  in 
a  state  of  insurrection  against  the  United  States ; 
and  whereas  said  State  government  can  only  be  re 
stored  to  its  former  political  relations  in  the  Union 
by  the  consent  of  the  law-making  power  of  the 
United  States;  and  whereas  the  people  of  said 
State  did,  on  the  22d  day  of  February,  1865,  by  a 
large  popular  vote,  adopt  and  ratify  a  constitution 
of  government,  republican  in  form,  and  not  incon 
sistent  with  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United 
States,  whereby  slavery  was  abolished  and  ordinan 
ces  and  laws  of  secession  and  debts  contracted  un 
der  the  same  were  declared  void ;  and  whereas  a 
State  government  has  been  organized  under  said 
constitution,  which  has  ratified  the  amendment  to 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  abolishing 
slavery;  also  the  amendment  proposed  by  the 
Thirty-Ninth  Congress ;  and  whereas  the  body  of 
the  people  of  Tennessee  have,  by  a  proper  spirit  of 
obedience,  shown  to  the  satisfaction  of  Congress  the 


IN    CONGRESS.  309 

return  of  said  State  to  due  allegiance  to  the  Gov 
ernment,  laws,  and  authority  of  the  United  States : 
Therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  United  States  do  hereby 
recognize  the  government  of  the  State  of  Tenn 
essee,  organized  as  aforesaid,  as  the  legitimate  gov 
ernment  of  said  State,  entitled  to  all  the  rights  of  a 
State  government  under  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States. 

Mr.  Sherman  hoped  the  Senate  would  not  adopt 
the  amendment  but  would  pass  the  resolution  of 
the  House.  Mr.  Trumbull  expressed  his  regret  that 
Mr.  Sherman  could  not  agree  to  the  substitute.  The 
amendment  reported  by  Mr.  Trumbull  was  further 
debated  by  Mr.  Buckalew,  Mr.  McDougall,  Mr.  John 
son,  Mr.  Henderson,  Mr.  Wade,  Mr.  Fessenden,  Mr. 
Lane,  Mr.  Hendricks,  Mr.  Edmunds,  Mr.  Sumner, 
Mr.  Grimes,  Mr.  Cowan,  Mr.  Howard  and  Mr. 
Morrill. 

The  preamble  reported  by  the  Judiciary  Com 
mittee  was  amended  by  striking  out,  on  motion  of 
Mr.  Trumbull,  the  words  declaring  that  the  body 
of  the  people  of  Tennessee  had  shown  a  proper 
spirit  of  obedience ;  and  on  motion  of  Mr.  Sumner, 
striking  out  that  her  constitution  was  republican  in 
form,  it  was  then  rejected. — Yeas  11,  nays  22.  Mr. 
Sumner  then  moved  that  a  proviso  be  added  to  the 
effect,  that  the  act  should  not  take  eifect  except 
upon  the  fundamental  condition  that  within  the 
State  there  should  be  no  denial  of  the  electoral  fran- 


310  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

chise,  or  of  any  other  rights,  on  account  of  color 
or  race,  but  all  persons  should  be  equal  before  the 
law ;  and  the  Legislature  of  the  State,  by  a  solemn 
public  act,  should  declare  the  assent  of  the  State  to 
this  fundamental  condition. 

The  amendment  was  rejected. — Yeas  4,  nays  34. 
On  the  motion  of  Mr.  Doolittle  the  preamble  to  the 
resolution  of  the  House  was  stricken  out. — Yeas  29, 
nays  11.  The  question  was  then  taken  on  the  pro 
position  to  substitute  the  resolution  of  the  Judiciary 
Committee  for  the  resolution  of  the  House,  and  it 
was  not  agreed  to.— Yeas  11,  nays  31. 

The  question  then  recurred  on  the  resolution  of 
the  House,  providing  that  the  State  of  Tennessee 
is  hereby  restored  to  her  former  proper  practical 
relations  to  the  Union,  and  is  again  entitled  to  be 
represented  by  Senators  and  Representatives  in 
Congress,  duly  elected  and  qualified,  upon  their 
taking  the  oaths  of  office  required  by  existing  laws. 

Mr.  Trumbull  moved  to  strike  out  all  after  the 
word  "  Union,"  and  Mr.  Pomeroy  moved  to  strike 
out  all  after  the  word  "  Congress."  The  amendment 
to  the  amendment  wras  agreed  to,  and  the  amend 
ment  adopted. — Yeas  25,  nays  18.  Mr.  Sherman 
moved  to  insert  as  a  preamble:  "Whereas  the  State 
of  Tennessee  has  in  good  faith,  by  the  action  of 
her  people,  now  placed  herself  in  obedience  to  and 
in  harmony  with  the  Constitution,  laws,  and  au 
thority  of  the  United  States  :  Therefore."  But  it 
was  lost. — Yeas  13,  nays  31. 


IN   CONGRESS.  311 

Mr.  Trumbull  offered  the  preamble  reported  by 
the  Judiciary  Committee  as  it  had  been  modified 
by  the  Committee  of  the  whole  in  the  Senate.  Mr. 
Sprague  moved  to  amend  the  amendment,  by  in 
serting  in  lieu  of  it  the  preamble  of  the  House  •  it 
was  lost. — Yeas  20,  nays  24.  Mr.  Trumbull's 
amendment  was  then  adopted. — Yeas  23,  nays  20. 
Mr.  Yates  moved  to  so  amend  the  resolution  as  to 
require  the  Senators  and  Representatives  to  possess 
the  qualifications  required  by  the  Constitutional 
amendment  proposed  by  the  39th  Congress — re 
jected. — Yeas  9,  nays  33.  Mr.  Nye  proposed  to 
amend  so  as  to  declare  that,  "The  people  of  Tenn 
essee  have  organized  a  government  which  is  in  alle 
giance  to  the  Constitution  and  the  laws  of  the 
United  States,  and  have  given  satisfactory  evidence 
of  their  purpose  and  ability  to  maintain  the  same, 
and  the  same  requiring  the  sanction  of  Congress  to 
its  validity,  it  is  hereby  ratified;"  but  it  was  reject 
ed.  Mr.  Doolittle  moved  to  amend  by  declaring 
that  Tennessee  was  restored  to  her  practical  rela 
tions  and  entitled  to  representation. — Yeas  5,  nays 
25. 

Mr.  Doolittle,  Mr.  Cowan  and  Mr.  Nesmith  would 
vote  for  the  resolution,  although  opposed  to  the 
preamble.  Mr.  Brown  declared  there  was  no  na 
tional  safety  in  this  procedure.  On  motion  of 
Mr.  Buckalew  the  yeas  and  nays  were  ordered 
on  the  passage  of  the  resolution,  and  it  passed. — 
Yeas  28,  nays  4.  Yeas, — Messrs.  Anthony,  Chan- 


312  RECONSTRUCTION  MEASURES 

dler,  Clark,  Conness,  Cowan,  Creswell,  Doolittle, 
Edmunds,  Foster,  Hendricks,  Howard,  Howe, 
Lane,  Morgan,  Morrill,  Nesmith,  Nye,  Poland, 
Pomeroy,  Sprague,  Stewart,  Trumbull,  Van  Winkle, 
Wade,  Willey,  Williams,  WUson  and  Yates— 28. 
Nays,-Messrs.  Brown,  Buckalew,McDougall  and  Sum- 
ner — 4.  Mr.  Conness  then  suggested  to  Mr.  Trum- 
bull  to  amend  the  title  so  as  to  declare  it  to  be  "a 
resolution  to  restore  Tennessee  to  her  practical  re 
lations  to  the  Government."  Mr.  Wilson  suggested 
that  the  title  be  "A  Joint  Resolution  restoring  Tenn 
essee  to  her  proper  practical  relations  to  the  Union." 
Mr.  Pomeroy  proposed  to  strike  out  the  words 
"proper"  and  "practical,"  and  Mr.  Wilson  agreed 
to  the  modification ;  and  that  title  was  assented  to 
by  Mr.  Trumbull  and  agreed  to  by  the  Senate. 

On  the  22d  the  House  agreed  to  the  Senate 
amendment  to  the  House  resolution.  On  the  pre 
amble  Mr.  Eldridge  demanded  the  yeas  and  nays, 
and  they  were  ordered  and  the  amendment  was 
agreed  to. — Yeas  93,  nays  26.  So  the  Joint  Reso 
lution  for  restoring  Tennessee  to  her  relations  to 
the  Union  was  passed.  On  the  24th  the  President 
sent  a  message  to  the  House  notifying  that  body 
that  he  had  signed  the  resolution  while  he  disa 
greed  to  the  mode  of  procedure  in  the  case.  The 
credentials  of  the  gentlemen  claiming  seats  as  Rep 
resentatives  from  Tennessee,  were  then  referred  to 
the  Committee  on  Elections. — Yeas  90,  nays  28. 
On  the  same  day  Mr.  Dawes  of  Massachusetts,  chair- 


IN   CONGRESS.  313 

man  of  the  Committee  on  Elections,  reported  that 
the  Committee  had  been  instructed  to  report  that 
the  credentials  of  Nathaniel  G.  Taylor,  for  the  first 
district  of  Tennessee ;  Horace  Maynard,  for  the  sec 
ond  district ;  William  B.  Stokes,  for  the  third  dis 
trict  ;  Edmund  Cooper,  for  the  fourth  district ;  Wil 
liam  D.  Campbell,  for  the  fifth  district ;  Samuel  L. 
Arnold,  for  the  6th  district ;  Isaac  R  Hawkins,  for 
the  seventh  district ;  and  John  W.  Leftwich,  for  the 
eighth  district,  were  in  conformity  with  the  law  and 
that  those  several  gentlemen  be  sworn  in  as  mem 
bers  of  the  House  from  Tennessee.  The  report  of 
the  Committee  was  agreed  to  and  that  State  was 
restored  to  her  relations  to  the  Union.  Her  Re 
publican  members  of  Congress  had  given  assuran 
ces  that  her  present  Legislature  would  immediately 
give  suffrage  without  distinction  of  color,  and  those 
assurances  and  other  evidences  ensured  the  passage 
of  the  Joint  Resolution.  The  Legislature  hastened 
to  redeem  the  pledges  made,  and  Tennessee  was  the 
first  of  the  slave  States  to  give  suffrage  to  the  ne 
gro  race. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

RESTORING  THE  REBEL  STATES  TO  FULL  POLITICAL  RIGHTS. 

Mr.  Stevens'  report  from  the  Joint  Committee  on  Reconstruction. — Mr. 
Boutwell  gave  notice  of  an  amendment. — Mr.  Wilson's  amendment. — Mr. 
Stevens'  amendment. — Mr.  Ashley's  substitute  for  Mr.  Stevens'  amend 
ment. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Stevens,  Mr.  Baker,  Mr.  Grinnell. — Speech  of 
Mr.  Eldridge,  Mr.  Scofield. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Dodge.— Mr.  Raymond's 
speech. — Speech  of  Mr,  Shellabarger. — Mr.  Shellabarger's  substitute. — 
Mr.  Bingham's  motion. 

ON  the  30th  of  April,  1866,  Mr.  Stevens  of  Penn 
sylvania  reported  from  the  Joint  Committee  on  Re 
construction  a  bill  for  restoring  to  the  insurrection 
ary  States  their  full  political  rights.  The  bill  pro 
vided  that  whenever  the  constitutional  amendment 
should  become  a  part  of  the  Constitution,  and  any 
rebel  State  should  have  ratified  it,  and  formed  its 
constitution  and  laws  in  conformity  to  its  provisions, 
the  Senators  and  Representatives  of  such  State 
should  be  admitted  on  taking  the  oaths,  and  that 
any  part  of  the  direct  tax  unpaid  might  be  assum 
ed  by  it  and  its  payment  postponed  for  a  period 
not  exceeding  ten  years.  On  the  1st  of  May  Mr. 
Boutwell  of  Massachusetts,  a  member  of  the  Recon- 

314 


IN   CONGRESS.  315 

struction  Committee,  gave  notice  that  lie  would 
move  to  amend  the  bill  by  striking  out  all  after  the 
enacting  clause  and  inserting  that  when  the  amend 
ment  should  become  a  part  of  the  Constitution,  and 
Arkansas  and  Tennessee  should  have  adopted  it 
and  established  an  equal  and  just  system  of  suf 
frage  for  all  male  citizens,  their  Senators  and  Rep 
resentatives  should  be  admitted  on  taking  the  oaths. 
Mr.  Bingham  of  Ohio  also  gave  notice  of  an  amend 
ment.  Mr.  Wilson  of  Iowa,  on  the  15th?  proposed 
to  amend  the  bill  so  that  any  State,  after  the 
amendment  should  become  a  part  of  the  Constitu 
tion,  should,  on  adopting  it,  conforming  its  consti 
tution  to  it  and  giving  equal  suffrage,  be  admitted 
without  waiting  for  any  other  State  to  act. 

On  the  29th  Mr.  Ashley  of  Ohio  made  an  elabo 
rate  speech  for  justice  to  the  friends  and  allies  of 
the  country.  "All  we  ask,"  he  said,  "is  justice — 
justice  to  friends,  and  mercy  to  a  fallen  foe.  All 
we  ask  now  for  white  men  and  black  in  the  South 
and  in  the  North  is  justice  •  and  I  tell  you,  that  by 
the  blessing  of  God,  we  intend  to  have  it.  Be  not 
deceived.  You  cannot  always  postpone  the  de 
mands  of  Justice.  As  a  nation  we  have  learned  by 
sad  experience  that  we  cannot  trample  upon  it  with 
impunity.  Neither  laws  nor  customs  nor  despotism 
can  silence  its  claim,  because  it  is  a  principle  im 
planted  by  the  Creator  in  every  human  heart,  and 
can  never  be  wholly  eradicated  by  the  selfishness 
or  tyranny  of  man.  He  who  understands  the  sim- 


316  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

pie  teachings  of  the  golden  rule  comprehends  the 
application  of  justice  alike  by  Governments  and 


men." 


Mr.  Latham  of  West  Virginia  demanded  that 
Congress  should  have  a  practicable  policy  before 
the  country.  He  said  :  "The  eyes  of  the  world  are 
on  us,  and  the  historian  pauses  with  ink-dipped  pen. 
What  shall  he  write — that  the  virtue,  intelligence, 
and  patriotism  of  the  American  people  have  tri 
umphed,  or  that  a  great  people,  powerful  in  war, 
united  by  disaster,  have  failed  in  the  hour  of  tri 
umph,  have  proved  themselves  incapable  of  secur 
ing  the  blessings  and  reaping  the  fruits  of  vic 
tory?" 

The  debate  was  resumed  on  the  30th  by  Mr. 
Bromwell  of  Illinois.  On  the  4th  of  June  Mr. 
Wilson  of  Iowa  spoke  in  favor  of  his  amend 
ment.  "Radical  ideas,"  he  said,  "are  always  in 
a  greater  or  less  degree  weighed  down  and  im 
peded  in  their  onward  march  by  the  possessors 
of  that  element  of  timidity  we  are  accustomed 
to  call  conservatism.  We  may  determine  these 
issues  now,  or  leave  them  to  the  future.  We  may 
be  wise  or  foolish  as  we  will,  but  the  end  will  be 
what  justice  demands.  We  may  advance  or  ob 
struct  the  solution  of  our  national  difficulties,  but 
we  cannot  change  the  decrees  of  Him  who  of  one 
blood  made  all  of  the  nations  of  the  earth.  'Equal 
and  exact  justice  to  all  men'  is  the  short  road  out 
of  all  our  national  troubles." 


IN   CONGRESS.  317 

On  the  llth  of  June  Mr.  Eousseau  of  Kentucky 
spoke  in  favor  of  the  policy  of  the  President,  and 
Mr.  Price  of  Iowa  denounced  the  prescriptive  action 
of  the  administration.  Mr.  Windom  of  Minnesota, 
on  the  loth,  resumed  the  debate.  "This  grand  pan 
acea/'  he  said,  (referring  to  the  President's  policy,) 
"for  all  our  political  ills,  is  based  upon  the  theory 
that  the  people  who  attempted  by  violence  and 
perjury  to  destroy  the  Government,  who  waged  a 
most  wicked  and  diabolical  four  years'  war  for  the 
establishment  of  a  slaveholding  empire  upon  the 
ruins  of  the  Republic,  who  murdered  our  soldiers 
in  cold  blood,  who  fired  our  hotels  filled  with  women 
and  children,  who  starved  our  soldiers  to  death  in 
loathsome  prison-pens,  within  sight  of  storehouses 
groaning  with  confederate  supplies,  who  polluted 
the  fountains  of  life  by  knowingly  inoculating  pris 
oners  with  the  virus  of  a  nameless  disease  which 
will  scourge  them  to  their  graves  and  entail  untold 
suffering  upon  their  innocent  offspring,  who  laid 
down  their  arms  only  when  our  victorious  bayonets 
were  at  their  throats,  and  who,  when  professing  to 
accept  the  issues  of  war,  assassinated  the  nation's 
honored  chief — that  this  people,  without  any  evi 
dences  of  repentance,  but  with  every  indication  of 
sorrow  for  the  'lost  cause,'  and  of  bitter  hatred 
toward  the  Government  and  its  defenders,  have  sud 
denly  become  sufficiently  loyal  to  be  trusted  with 
all  the  rights  and  franchises  they  have  renounced 
and  forfeited ;  that  in  ' accepting  the  situation'  they 


318  RECONSTRUCTION  MEASURES 

have  entitled  themselves  to  step  at  once,  unques 
tioned,,  from  the  rebel  congress  and  the  rebel  camps 
into  the  halls  of  legislation  to  make  laws  for  the 
Republic  which  they  have  so  recently  tried  in  vain 
to  destroy  ;  to  become  the  guardians  of  our  widows, 
orphans,  and  disabled  soldiers,  and  custodians  of  all 
the  civil  and  political  rights  of  the  humble  colored 
patriots  whom  they  held  in  slavery  as  long  as  they 
could." 

Mr.  Harris  of  Maryland  followed,  avowing  him 
self  an  old  line  Democrat  and  a  believer  in  seces 
sion.  If  his  State  had  said  so  he  would  have  join 
ed  the  seceded  States.  *  *  *  "But,"  he  said, 
"there  is  something  in  the  spirit  of  the  southern 
people  which  will  thwart  your  designs.  If  they 
have  lowered  the  standard  of  their  confederacy, 
they  have  not  lowered  the  standard  of  their  pride 
— a  becoming  pride  in  the  estimation  of  an  honor 
able  enemy.  The  southerner  has  all  around  him, 
without  speaking  of  the  merits  of  the  late  contest, 
tokens  of  the  endurance,  courage,  and  prowess  of 
his  people.  Sad  spectacle  though  it  be,  it  will  not 
diminish  his  tone  that  he  can  on  his  own  soil  walk 
over  the  graves  of  nearly  three  hundred  thousand 
of  his  courageous  enemies,  and — 

*  Standing  on  the  Yankee's  grave, 
He  will  not  deem  himself  a  slave.' " 

Mr.  Le  Blond,  Mr.  Eldridge,  and  Mr.  Eandall  fol 
lowed  Mr.  Harris  in  brief  remarks.  Mr.  Dawes  of 
Massachusetts  maintained  that  the  title  of  the  rebel 


IN   CONGRESS  319 

States  to  elect  Representatives  had  always  been 
good,  but  they  would  not  exercise  it  because  they 
\vere  in  rebellion,  or  not  sufficiently  out  of  it,  and 
that  until  they  had  so  far  restored  domestic  tran 
quillity  as  to  obey  the  law,  conform  themselves  to 
it  and  erect  State  governments  republican  in  form, 
they  were  not  capable  of  electing  representatives. 

On  the  15th  Mr.  Orth  of  Indiana  addressed  the 
House.  He  said  :  "The  years  numbering  from  1861 
to  1866  are  momentous  years,  and  will  form  one  of 
the  brightest  epochs  in  the  annals  of  our  race. 
Those  years  have  witnessed  a  struggle  of  unex 
ampled  proportions,  and  a  victory  without  a  paral 
lel.  They  have  witnessed  the  salvation  of  a  repub 
lic  whose  principles  and  whose  power  will  be  felt 
in  every  land.  They  have  witnessed  the  enfran 
chisement  of  a  race  who  had  been  in  bondage  over 
two  hundred  years;  restored  not  only  to  liberty 
but  by  our  recent  action  placed  in  the  possession  of 
their  civil  rights,  and  who  are  daily  giving  evidence 
of  their  appreciation  of  the  boon  thus  conferred. 
Our  forefathers  secured  liberty  to  themselves  and 
their  posterity;  we  have  done  more — more  than 
they,  more  than  Grecian  or  Roman  ever  accom 
plished  ;  we  have  given  liberty  to  others." 

On  the  18th  Mr.  Raymond  of  New  York  ad 
dressed  the  House  in  along,  carefully  prepared, 
and  able  speech.  If  it  depended  upon  him,  he 
said,  the  rebel  States  would  be  that  day  restored ; 
he  said  the  South  once  had  elements  of  power  that 


320  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

made  her  formidable  ;  she  had  wealth,  she  had  poli 
tical  leaders,  of  great  intellect,  of  towering  ambi 
tion,  and  iron  will ;  she  had  a  generation  of  young 
men  trained  in  the  school  of  Calhoun,  educated  to 
believe  the  South  a  victim  to  Northern  tyranny. 

Mr.  Raymond  maintained  that  the  South  was  no 
longer  formidable,  and  scouted  the  appeals  address 
ed  to  the  fears  of  the  nation.  He  sympathized  entire 
ly  with  John  Quincy  Adams  when  he  replied  to  ap 
peals  of  a  kindred  nature,  "  The  Government  of  the 
United  States  never  takes  counsel  of  its  fears ;  it 
consults  only  its  courage  and  its  hopes." 

On  the  19th  of  December,  Mr.  Stevens  called  up 
the  bill  providing  for  restoring  to  the  States  lately 
in  insurrection  their  full  political  rights,  and  offer 
ed  an  amendment  in__the  nature— oiL  a  substitute. 
Mr.  Stevens  on  the  3d  of  January,  1867,  called  up 
the  bill,  the  pending  question  being  his  substitute 
which  provided  in  substance  that  the  State  govern 
ments  of  the  rebel  States  were  to  be  deprived  of 
all  legal  authority,  their  acts  to  be  null  and  void, 
and  that  Congress  should  authorize  the  election  of 
delegates  to  a  Convention  on  the  basis  of  universal 
suffrage.  Mr.  Stevens  advocated  his  substitute. 

Mr.  Ashley  offered  an  amendment  of  sixteen  sec 
tions  as  a  substitute  for  Mr.  Stevens'  amendment. 
It  declared  all  laws  null  and  void  in  the  rebel  States. 
Mr.  Pike  of  Maine  followed  in  an  earnest  speech  in 
favor  of  giving  the  black  man  the  same  rights  as 
the  white  man,  and  thus  disposing  of  the  negro 


IN    CONGRESS.  321 

question.  Mr.  Bingham  then  entered  a  motion  to 
refer  to  the  Committee  on  Reconstruction  the  bill 
and  amendments. 

On  the  16th  the  House  resumed  the  considera 
tion  of  the  bill,  and  Mr.  Paine  of  Wisconsin  ex 
pressed  his  determination  not  to  vote  for  the  second 
section  acknowledging  the  validity  of  the  rebel 
Governments  for  municipal  purposes.  Mr.  Bing 
ham  of  Ohio  said  the  bill  was  in  conflict  with  the 
pending  Constitutional  amendment,  and  totally  ig 
nored  the  duty  of  Congress  to  protect  life  and  lib 
erty  in  the  rebel  States.  He  pronounced  Mr.  Ash 
ley's  bill  a  bill  of  anarchy,  which  swept  away  all 
laws  in  those  States,  declared  them  all  void,  and 
subjected  the  people  to  such  lawrs  as  might  there 
after  be  enacted.  He  looked  upon  it  as  a  bill  to 
place  hindrances  in  the  wray  of  restoration.  Mr. 
Dawson  of  Pennsylvania  followed  in  an  elaborate 
speech  in  opposition  to  the  bill  and  to  all  kindred 
measures. 

The  debate  was  resumed  on  the  17th,  and  Mr. 
Stevens  modified  his  bill  by  striking  out  the  second 
section  to  which  Mr.  Paine  had  so  earnestly  object 
ed.  Mr.  Baker  of  Illinois  eloquently  advocated  the 
reference  of  the  bill  to  the  Reconstruction  Com 
mittee.  Mr.  Grinnell  of  Iowa  thought  the  Recon 
struction  question  would  settle  itself  if  the  ballot 
was  given  to  the  black  man.  "  Let  the  black  man/' 
he  said,  "have  the  ballot,  let  him  have  justice  meted 
out  to  him,  for  he  deserves  to  be  enfranchised.  He 
21 


322  RECONSTRUCTION    MEASURES 

was  our  friend  when  the  clouds  of  heaven  rolled 
black  over  us ;  arid  our  responsibilities  only  began 
when  we  broke  his  chains  and  made  him  a  soldier 
of  the  Republic." 

Mr.  Donnelly  of  Minnesota  resumed  the  debate 
on  the  18th,  and  in  an  earnest  speech  advocated 
the  rights  of  the  Freedmen.  "I  say  to  you/'  he 
exclaimed,  "that  if,  in  the  face  of  every  prompting 
of  self-interest  and  self-protection,  and  humanity 
and  gratitude,  and  Christianity  and  statesmanship, 
we  abandon  these  poor  wretches  to  their  fate,  the 
wrath  of  an  offended  God  cannot  fail  to  fall  upon 
the  nation." 

Mr.  Eldridge  of  Wisconsin  earnestly  opposed  the 
bill.  He  said  :  "  There  never  was  a  more  abomin 
able  doctrine,  or  one  more  fatal  to  this  Government 
than  that  which  asserts  its  right  and  power  to  hold 
the  late  insurgent  States  as  conquered  territories 
and  the  people  as  conquered  subjects.  It  is  a  vir 
tual  denial  of  the  power  of  self-preservation,  and  a 
pregnant  admission  that  the  powers  assumed,  and 
the  rights  asserted,  are  not  to  be  found  in  the  Con 
stitution.  It  is  a  most  base  and  wicked  subterfuge, 
by  which  to  usurp  and  exercise  ungranted  and  des 
potic  powers.  It  is  a  doctrine  no  less  fatal  to  the 
Union  than  the  States." 

Mr.  Warner  of  Connecticut  followed  Mr.  Eldridge 
in  an  eloquent  and  high-toned  speech  for  equal 
rights  and  impartial  justice  to  all.  He  said:  "Our 
action  is  not  alone  for  this  hour,  but  for  all  time. 


IN    CONGRESS.  323 

Our  legislation  addresses  itself  not  only  to  the  good 
of  this  generation,  but  of  all  generations  of  men. 
The  stake  is  not  alone  the  awful  stake  of  the  per 
manent  peace,  prosperity,  and  welfare  of  thirty 
million  human  beings,  but  the  progress  of  civiliza 
tion,  constitutional  liberty,  constitutional  form  of 
government,  the  destiny  of  a  continent,  and  the 
hope  of  liberal  governments  on  earth.  The  lines 
of  national  policy  and  action  we  now  draw  cast 
their  deepening  shadows  of  national  night  along 
the  whole  course  of  our  future  empire,  until  the 
mind  shudders  and  starts  back  at  the  contemplation 
of  its  gloom ;  or  they  reveal  the  full  bow  of  the  na 
tion's  promise,  its  arch  encompassing  all  mankind, 
and  the  fruition  of  its  now  painfully  struggling 
hopes,  of  liberty,  equality,  and  justice  to  all.  Such 
a  future  I  believe  we  control,  and  such  a  future  is 
alone  worthy  of  the  present  realizations,  the  heroic 
sacrifices,  the  immortal  memories  of  the  Kepublic." 
Mr.  Henderson  of  Oregon  spoke  for  equality  of 
rights. 

On  the  19th  the  consideration  of  the  bill  was  re 
sumed,  and  Mr.  Spaulding  moved  to  amend  it  so  as 
to  provide  that  until  the  rebel  States  should  be  ad 
mitted,  they  should  be  placed  under  martial  law. 
Mr.  Stevens  accepted  the  amendment.  Mr.  Koontz 
of  Pennsylvania  was  for  the  protection  of  the  peo 
ple  of  the  South  who  had  been  true  to  the  Union, 
without  regard  to  race  or  color.  "The  great  duty," 
he  said,  "rests  upon  us  to  finish  the  work  which  was 


324  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

not  completed  by  warfare.  The  shackles  of  four 
million  slaves  were  melted  by  the  fierce  fires  of 
civil  war ;  but  the  animus  of  slavery,  its  passions 
and  prejudices  yet  remain.  It  is  our  duty  so  to 
legislate  as  to  remove  the  last  relic  of  a  barbarism 
that  would  have  suited  the  dark  ages,  and  to  con 
form  our  institutions  to  the  advanced  condition  to 
which  we  have  been  brought  by  the  mighty  revolu 
tion  just  ended.  And  when  this  shall  have  been 
done  the  great  Republic,  freed  from  the  dark  stain 
of  human  slavery,  will  start  upon  her  mission  to 
promulgate,  by  precept  and  example,  the  immuta 
ble  and  eternal  truth  of  the  equality  of  man,  and 
before  whose  resistless  march  kingdoms  and  empires, 
principalities  and  powers,  and  all  the  systems  built 
upon  caste  and  creed  for  the  oppression  of  man, 
will  be  swept  from  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  be 
known  no  more  forever." 

Mr.  Scofield  was  ready  for  the  vote.  "  How  much 
longer,"  he  asked,  "  shall  we  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  the 
cry  of  the  oppressed  ?  How  much  longer  shall  we 
stand  here  and  see  the  brave  men  who  for  four 
years,  amid  obloquy,  persecution,  imprisonment, 
and  torture,  refused  to  forswear  the  flag,  now  when 
that  flag  is  triumphant,  in  part  through  their  suffer 
ings,  driven  from  their  homes  or  shot  down  in  the 
streets  like  dogs  ?  If  we  thus  meanly  desert  our 
friends  the  rebels  themselves  will  despise  us." 

Mr.  Scofield  was  followed  by  Mr.  Ward  of  Ken- 
tucky,  who  was  opposed  to  the  whole  system  of 


IN   CONGRESS.  325 

legislation  tending  to  punish  the  people  of  the 
South.  "What  more/'  he  asked,  "do  you  want  than 
the  punishment  which  the  war  has  inflicted  ?  The 
commerce  of  the  southern  people  has  been  destroy 
ed  ;  their  towns  and  cities  have  been  burned ;  their 
fields  desolated  and  stained  with  blood ;  wives  have 
been  widowed  and  children  made  orphans ;  and 
amid  the  desolation  they  are  threatened  with  fam 
ine  and  crying  for  bread." 

Mr.  Miller  of  Pennsylvania  was  in  no  haste  to 
admit  rebel  States.  Mr.  Plants  of  Ohio  would  strike 
black  and  white  alike  from  all  laws,  making  legis 
lation  like  the  dew,  rain,  and  sunshine  descend  up 
on  all ;  he  predicted  that  at  the  end  of  a  quarter 
of  a  century  the  white  race  would  be  sixty  millions 
and  black  race  not  exceed  six  millions. 

The  debate  was  resumed  on  the  21st,  and  Mr. 
Kerr  of  Indiana  spoke  in  opposition  to  the  bill  be 
cause  it  reduced  the  States  to  Territories,  and  tend 
ed  to  political  chaos  or  despotism.  Mr.  Higby  of 
California  followed,  and  Mr.  Trimble  of  Kentucky 
opposed  the  bill  and  all  kindred  legislation. 

Mr.  Dodge  of  New  York  was  opposed  to  the  bills 
of  Mr.  Stevens  and  Mr.  Ashley,  and  in  favor  of  re 
committing  them  to  the  Reconstruction  Committee, 
with  the  hope  that  the  committee  might  present 
some  plan  by  which  the  loyal  men  of  the  south, 
white  and  black,  might  be  protected  in  all  their 
rights  of  person  and  property,  and  which  might  put 
an  effectual  stop  to  the  injustice,  persecution,  and 


326  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

murder  which  were  going  on  without  restraint  from 
the  general  or  local  governments.  Mr.  Hise  of 
Kentucky  followed  in  opposition  to  all  legislation 
and  for  the  immediate  and  unconditional  admission 
of  the  Eepresentatives  of  the  rebel  States. 

On  the  24th  Mr.  Kaymond  of  New  York  made 
an  elaborate  speech  on  Reconstruction.  Mr.  Shella- 
barger  of  Ohio  maintained  the  right  of  the  Gov 
ernment  to  withhold  from  persons  who  discarded 
all  the  obligations  pertaining  to  their  citizenship, 
the  powers  and  rights  which  came  alone  from  per 
forming  those  obligations.  In  illustration  and  proof 
of  that  position,  he  said :  "  There  is  a  child  before 
you.  He  moves  about  in  the  simplicity  of  his 
young  nature,  unconscious  of  the  dignity  which  is 
upon  him.  He  goes  under  your  flag  to  another 
country.  There  another  Government  injures  his 
life,  his  property,  or  even  a  hair  of  his  head.  For 
that  injury,  sir,  what  ought  to  happen  ?  Nay,  sir, 
by  the  very  law  of  your  nation's  life  and  honor, 
what  must  happen  ?  Now,  nothing  has  occurred 
except  that  a  foreign  Government  has  put  its  hand 
in  insult  or  injury  upon  a  little  boy,  and  he  upon 
the  other  side  of  the  globe,  where  midnight  is  when 
we  have  high  noon.  But  then  the  boy  was  our 
country's  and  was  under  its  flag.  When  the  tidings 
come  to  us  that  that  child  was  hurt,  if  needs  be  for 
his  redress  every  sword  in  the  land  and  every  gun, 
every  arm  in  the  land  and  every  heart,  every  drops- 
of  blood  in  the  land  and  every  dollar  of  money 


IN    CONGRESS.  327 

pass  eagerly  under  requisition  to  the  work  of  that 
child's  redress;  and  for  that  redress  your  armies 
and  navies  start  off  in  a  procession  which  girdles 
the  globe  with  the  light  of  your  banners. 

And,  sir,  why  all  this  ?  It  is  because  that  child 
bore  with  him  what,  thank  God  and  the  armies  of 
America,  is  to-day  the  highest  of  earthly  dignities ; 
higher  than  that  which  made  the  person  of  him  of 
Tarsus  sacred  in  the  presence  of  a  Hebrew  mob. 
The  boy  was  an  American  citizen." 

On  the  26th  Mr.  Ross  of  Illinois  spoke  in  oppo 
sition  to  the  pending  legislation,  and  was  fol 
lowed  by  Mr.  Ashley  of  Ohio  in  support  of  his  bill. 
He  was  anxious  that  the  people  who  went  into  the 
rebellion  should  be  restored  to  their  practical  rela 
tions  upon  the  mildest,  most  forgiving,  and  most 
merciful  terms  which  a  conquering  people  could 
impose,  looking  to  the  safety  and  stability  of  the 
national  government  and  the  rights  of  loyal  citi 
zens. 

On  the  28th  Mr.  Julian  of  Indiana  resumed  the 
debate.  "I  shall  never  vote,"  he  said,  "to  restore 
one  of  these  rebel  districts  to  power  as  a  State,  ex 
cept  upon  the  condition  that  impartial  suffrage, 
without  respect  to  race,  color,  or  former  condition  of 
slavery,  shall  be  the  supreme  law  within  her  borders." 
Mr.  Scofield  briefly  replied  to  Mr.  Ross.  "We  all 
propose,"  he  said,  "to  reunite  the  whole  territory. 
You  propose  to  unite  the  United  States  to  the  Con 
federacy,  and  thus  bring  us  together.  We  propose 


328  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

to  annex  the  Confederacy  to  the  United  States." 
Mr.  Cullom  of  Illinois  said:  "the  people  of  the 
South  are  like  other  people  in  some  characteristics 
at  least ;  and  when  this  Government  adopts  some 
definite  policy  and  goes  forward  in  its  execution, 
the  rebels  and  all  the  people  of  the  rebellious  States 
will  acquiesce." 

Mr.  Shellabarger  offered  an  amendment  as  a  sub 
stitute  for  the  sixth  section  of  Mr.  Stevens'  bill, 
which  substitute  was  accepted  by  that  gentleman. 
The  previous  question  was  then  ordered  and  Mr. 
Bingham's  motion  to  refer  the  bill  and  amendments 
to  the  Reconstruction  Committee,  was  agreed  to. — 
Yeas  88,  nays  65.  So  the  whole  matter  was  refer 
red  to  the  Committee  by  the  House  of  Represen 
tatives. 


CHAPTER  XYI. 

CIYIL  GOVERNMENT  IN  LOUISIANA. 

Mr.  Eliot's  report  from  the  Committee  on  the  New  Orleans  riot. — Mr. 
Boyer's  minority  report. — Mr.  Eliot's  Bill  for  the  reestablishment  of 
Civil  Government. — Provisions  of  the  Bill. — Bill  passed. — Motion  of  Mr. 
Wade. — Mr.  Sumner's  amendment. — Remarks  of  Mr.  McDougall. — Re 
marks  of  Mr.  Wilson. — The  Bill  not  further  considered. 

IN  the  House  of  Representatives  on  the  llth  of 
February,  1SG7,  Mr.  Eliot,  from  the  Select  Commit 
tee  on  the  New  Orleans  Riots,  made  a  report  of  the 
evidence  taken,  and  the  report  of  a  majority  of  the 
committee  on  the  evidence.  Mr.  Boyer  of  Pennsyl 
vania  made  a  minority  report,  and  on  motion  by 
Mr.  Eliot  twenty  thousand  extra  copies  of  the  reports 
and  ten  thousand  copies  of  the  evidence  were  or 
dered  to  be  printed.  From  the  same  committee 
Mr.  Eliot  reported  a  bill  for  the  re-establishment  of 
civil  Government  in  the  State  of  Louisiana,  which 
was  read  twice  and  ordered  to  be  printed.  The  bill 
provided  for  the  appointment  by  the  President,  by 
and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate  of  a 
Governor  for  the  State  to  hold  office  for  one  year 
unless  sooner  removed,  and  of  a  provisional  council 


330  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

of  nine  to  hold  office  until  a  Legislature  could  be 
elected.  The  Governor  was  to  take  charge  of  all  ar 
chives  and  other  property  belonging  to  the  State. 
Duly  qualified  electors  were  to  proceed  to  elect  a  Gov 
ernor,  Senate,  House  of  Representatives  and  other 
civil  officers,  and  all  male  citizens  over  twenty-one 
years  of  age,  who  had  resided  one  year  in  Louisiana 
and  never  borne  arms  against  the  United  States, 
were  to  be  entitled  to  vote,  without  distinction  of 
race  or  color.  The  Secretary  of  War  was  to  provide 
for  a  just  and  true  registration  of  electors  under  this 
act.  A  convention  was  to  be  held  on  the  3d  Tuesday 
of  October,  to  form  a  permanent  constitution  and 
frame  of  government,  to  be  submitted  to  the  electors 
and  if  approved  by  a  majority,  to  be  then  presented  to 
Congress  for  the  admission  of  the  State  thereunder  and 
the  President  was  to  appoint  a  military  commander, 
not  less  than  a  Brigadier  General,  to  see  that  law  is 
enforced  in  case  the  civil  authorities  neglected  or  re 
fused  to  enforce  it — militia  of  the  State  was  to  be 
composed  of  qualified  electors  and  all  laws  passed 
were  to  be  sent  to  Congress,  and  if  not  approved  should 
be  void.  Louisiana  was  to  be  entitled  to  one  delegate 
to  Congress  until  the  State  was  admitted.  All  laws 
now  in  force  consistent  with  the  Constitution  and 
laws  of  the  United  States  were  to  remain  in  force  until 
modified  or  repealed.  All  expenses  incident  to  the 
provisional  government  were  to  be  collected  and 
paid  as  for  the  present  government. 

Mr.  Finck  of  Ohio,  moved  to  lay  the  bill  upon 


IN    CONGRESS.  331 

the  table,  pending  which  the  House  adjourned.  On 
the  12th  the  House  proceeded  to  the  consideration 
of  the  bill.  Mr.  Boyer  of  Pennsylvania,  a  member 
of  the  committee  on  the  New  Orleans  Riots,  then 
addressed  the  House  in  opposition  to  the  bill.  He 
was  followed  by  Mr.  Harding  of  Kentucky,  who 
said  the  reconstruction  committee  had  investigated 
and  reported,  and  reported,  and  reported,  until  it 
was  manifest  it  had  become  demoralized,  the  Repub 
lican  party  was  in  an  emergency,  the  reconstruction 
committee  was  at  war  with  each  other  and  the 
speaker  ought  to  be  empowered  to  discharge  and 
appoint  a  new  committee  of  good  men  and  true, 
without  regard  to  race  or  color.  Mr.  Finck  de 
nounced  the  bill,  as  revolutionary  in  character  and 
Mr.  Noell  of  Missouri,  spoke  in  opposition  to  its 
passage.  He  was  followed  by  Mr.  Sliellabarger 
of  Ohio,  who  said  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
the  great  body  of  the  citizens  of  Louisiana  had 
been  four  years  engaged  in  a  fierce,  huge  and 
bloody  war  for  the  destruction  of  the  government. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  the  flagrant  war  was 
just  ended,  not  by  voluntary  surrender,  or  upon 
professions  of  changed  views  or  of  sorrow,  but  by 
reason  of  a  crushing  defeat  in  war.  Keeping  those 
things  in  mind  the  question  arose  whether  the 
United  States  might  exercise  military  and  police 
force  for  the  enforcement  of  the  laws.  The  ques 
tion  was  then  taken  on  the  passage  of  the  bill  and 
resulted. — Yeas  113,  nays  47. 


332  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

In  the  Senate  on  the  loth  Mr.  Wade  moved  to 
postpone  all  other  business  and  proceed  to  the  con 
sideration  of  the  bill  for  the  reorganization  of  the 
State  of  Louisiana,  and  after  a  brief  debate  the 
motion  was  agreed  to. — Yeas  23,  nays  19.  The  bill 
was  read  once  and  Mr.  Hendricks  interposing  an 
objection,  it  went  over  to  the  next  day  under  the 
rule. 

On  the  13th  the  Senate  on  motion  of  Mr.  Wade 
proceeded  to  the  consideration  of  the  bill,  and  it 
was  read  a  second  time.  Mr.  Sumner  submitted  an 
amendment,  and  the  Senate  on  motion  of  Mr.  Wil 
liams  proceeded  to  the  consideration  of  the  bill  for 
the  better  government  of  the  rebel  states.  On  the 
18th  Mr.  Sumner  moved  that  the  Senate  proceed  to 
the  consideration  of  the  bill  for  the  reorganization 
of  the  State  of  Louisiana.  The  yeas  and  nays  were 
ordered  on  motion  of  Mr.  Buckalew  of  Pennsylvania, 
Mr.  Sumner  said  we  ought  to  consider  the  bill; 
there  ought  to  be  no  delay,  no  postponement.  Mr. 
McDougall  was  willing  to  meet  the  question  at  the 
moment.  If  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts  was 
disposed  to  thrust  the  consideration  of  the  Louis 
iana  question  on  the  Senate,  he  was  disposed  to 
"meet  the  demon  on  the  threshold."  Mr.  Wilson 
was  in  favor  of  proceeding  to  the  consideration  of 
the  bill  at  that  time.  He  was  among  those  who 
would  take  it  up  in  preference  to  the  military  bill. 
"I  think"  he  said  "these  rebels  who  are  in  power 
ought  to  be  dispossessed  of  that  power  at  the  earli- 


IN  CONGRESS.  333 

est  possible  moment.  Sir,  the  great  charge  that 
the  country  has  made  against  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  the  great  wrong  that  he  has  done  the 
country,  is,  that  when  we  had  conquered  the  rebell 
ion;  when,  by  his  own  confession,  there  was  no 
authority  in  these  States;  when  the  rebels  were  all 
out  of  power;  wrhen  these  States  were  without  civil 
governments ;  when  they  were  completely  under  the 
government  of  the  nation,  he,  without  consulting 
Congress  and  without  the  authority  of  law,  by  his 
own  will  put  these  ten  States  into  the  hands  of  the 
traitors.  Sir,  I  believe  that  the  President,  in  doing 
that  act,  was  guilty  of  as  great  a  wrong  against  the 
country  as  General  Grant  would  have  been  had  he 
surrendered  his  army  at  Appomattox  CourtrHouse 
to  General  Lee  after  General  Lee's  army  was  driven 
out  of  Kichmond.  Had  General  Grant  surrendered 
the  army  of  the  Potomac  on  that  field  to  General 
Lee's  shattered  army  I  do  not  think  he  would  have 
clone  a  greater  wrong  to  the  country  than  the  Pres 
ident  has  done  in  putting  these  ten  States  back  into 
the  hands  of  traitors.  The  first  duty  we  owe  to  the 
country,  and  it  is  a  duty  that  has  been  too  long 
neglected,  is  to  remove  these  traitors  from  power  in 
the  rebel  States." 

Pending  the  question  of  taking  up  the  bill,  the 
Senate  on  motion  of  Mr.  Stewart,  adjourned.  Yeas 
18,  nays  15.  So  the  bill,  reorganizing  the  govern 
ment  of  Louisiana,  was  not  further  considered  by 
the  Senate. 


CHAPTER  XVH. 

FOR  THE  MORE  EFFICIENT  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  REBEL  STATES. 

Mr.  Williams'  Bill. — Speech  of  Mr.  Brandegee,  Mr.  Le  Blond,  Mr.  Ingersoll, 
Mr.  Rogers,  Mr.  Thayer,  Mr.  Shellabarger,  Mr.  Garfield. — Remarks  of  Mr. 
Stevens  and  Mr.  Banks. — Mr.  Kasson's  amendment. — Remarks  of  Mr. 
Boutwell. — Mr.  Bingham's  amendment. — Speech  of  Mr.  Kelley,  Mr.  Alli 
son,  Mr.  Maynard. — Mr.  Elaine's  amendment. — Mr.  Stevens'  amendment. 
Remarks  of  Mr.  Schenck  and  Mr.  Bingham. — Passage  of  the  Bill. — Sen 
ate — Mr.  Williams'  amendment. — Mr.  Wilson's  amendment. — Mr.  Freling- 
huysen's  motion  to  amend  the  amendment. — Mr.  Henderson's  amend 
ment. — Mr.  Morrill's  amendment. — Mr.  Sherman's  amendment. — Substi 
tute  agreed  to. — Passage  of  the  Bill. — House — Remarks  of  Mr.  Stevens, 
Mr.  Boutwell,  Mr.  Elaine,  Mr.  Bingham,  Mr.  Farnsworth,  Mr.  Garfield 
and  Mr.  Baker. — Committee  of  Conference  agreed  to. — Mr.  Shellabar- 
ger's  motion. — Concurrence  of  the  House. — Senate. — Mr.  Wilson's 
amendment. — Senate  concurred. — Passage  of  the  Bill. — The  veto  mes 
sage. — Passage  of  the  Bill  over  the  veto. 

IN  the  House  of  Representatives,  on  the  second 
day  of  the  second  session  of  the  39th  Congress, 
Mr.  Stevens  of  Pennsylvania  introduced  a  concur 
rent  resolution — that  the  joint  Committee  of  fif 
teen  on  reconstruction,  appointed  during  the  last 
session,  should  be  re-appointed  under  the  same 
rules  and  regulations,  and  that  all  the  documents 
and  resolutions  referred  then,  be  considered  as  re 
ferred  to  them  anew.  It  was  adopted  without  a 

334 


IN   CONGRESS.  335 

division  and  concurred  in  by  the  Senate  on  the  fol 
lowing  day.  During  the  recess  Mr.  Grider  of  Ken 
tucky  had  died,  and  Mr.  Hise  of  the  same  State 
was  appointed  to  fill  his  place  on  the  Committee. 

In  the  Senate  on  the  4th  of  February,  1867,  Mr. 
Williams  of  Oregon,  a  member  of  the  Reconstruct 
tion  Committee,  introduced  a  bill  for  the  better 
Government  of  the  insurrectionary  States,  which 
was  referred  to  the  Reconstruction  Committee.  On 
the  6th  Mr.  Stevens  reported  to  the  House  the  bill 
introduced  by  Mr.  Williams  on  the  4th,  with  slight 
modifications.  The  bill  set  forth  that  the  rebel 
State  Governments  were  set  up  without  the  au 
thority  of  Congress,  and  the  sanction  of  the  peo 
ple  ;  that  these  pretended  Governments  afforded 
no  protection  to  life,  liberty,  or  property  ;  that  they 
encouraged  lawlessness  and  crime,  and  that  peace 
and  order  ought  to  be  enforced  until  loyal  State 
governments  could  be  legally  established.  Therefore, 

"That  said  so-called  States  shall  be  divided  into 
military  districts,  and  Virginia  shall  constitute  the 
first  district,  North  Carolina  and  South  Carolina  the 
second,  Georgia,  Alabama  and  Florida  the  third, 
Mississippi  and  Arkansas  the  fourth,  and  Louisiana 
and  Texas  the  fifth. 

"That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  General  of  the 
army  to  assign  to  the  command  of  each  of  said  dis 
tricts  an  officer  of  the  regular  army  not  below  the 
rank  of  brigadier-general,  and  to  detail  a  sufficient 
force  to  enable  such  officer  to  enforce  his  authority. 


336  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

"That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  each  officer  assigned, 
to  protect  all  persons  in  their  rights  of  person  and 
property,  to  suppress  insurrection,  disorder,  and 
violence,  and  to  punish  all  disturbers  of  the  public 
peace  and  criminals ;  and  to  this  end  he  may  allow 
civil  tribunals  to  take  jurisdiction  of  and  to  try 
offenders,  or  when  in  his  judgment  it  may  be  nec 
essary  for  the  trial  of  offenders  he  shall  have  power 
to  organize  military  commissions  or  tribunals  for 
that  purpose,  anything  in  the  constitution  and  laws 
of  the  so-called  States  to  the  contrary  notwith 
standing. 

"That  courts  and  judicial  officers  of  the  United 
States  shall  not  issue  writs  of  habeas  corpus  in  be 
half  of  persons  in  military  custody  unless  some 
commissioned  officer,  on  duty  in  the  district  where 
in  the  person  is  detained,  shall  endorse  upon  said 
petition  a  statement  certifying  upon  honor  that  he 
has  information  as  to  the  cause  of  the  alleged  de 
tention,  and  that  he  believes  the  same  to  be  right 
ful  ;  and  further,  that  he  believes  that  the  endorsed 
petition  is  preferred  in  good  faith  and  in  further 
ance  of  justice,  and  not  delay  the  punishment  of 
crime. 

"That  no  sentence  of  any  military  commission  or 
tribunal  hereby  authorized,  affecting  the  life  or 
liberty  of  any  person,  shall  be  executed  until  ap 
proved  by  the  officer  in  command  of  the  district ; 
and  the  laws  and  regulations  for  the  government  of 


IN    CONGRESS.  337 

the  army  shall  not  be  affected  by  this  act,  except 
in  so  far  as  they  conflict  with  its  provisions." 

On  the  7th  the  bill  was  taken  up  and  Mr.  Finck 
of  Ohio  desired  to  know  if  its  passage  was  to  be 
pressed  that  day.  Mr.  Stevens  was  anxious  for  the 
vote.  Mr.  Finck  thought  it  the  most  important  bill 
ever  presented  to  an  American  Congress.  Mr.  Wil 
son  of  Iowa  agreed  with  Mr.  Finck  touching  the  im 
portance  of  the  measure,  and  suggested  that  one  day 
be  given  to  debate.  Mr.  LeBlond  of  Ohio  wanted  time 
for  discussion.  He  agreed  that  it  was  the  most  impor 
tant  bill  ever  presented  to  Congress.  "It  strikes/* 
he  said,  "at  the  civil  governments  in  those  States. 
It  ignores  State  lines.  It  ignores  those  States  in 
every  particular.  It  destroys  their  civil  govern 
ments.  It  breaks  down  the  judicial  system  in  those 
States." 

"For  two  years,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  "they  have 
been  in  a  state  of  anarchy ;  for  two  years  the  loyal 
people  of  those  ten  States  have  endured  all  the 
horrors  of  the  worst  anarchy  of  any  country.  Per 
secution,  exile,  murder  have  been  the  order  of  the 
day  within  all  these  Territories  so  far  as  loyal  men 
were  concerned,  whether  white  or  black,  and  more 
especially  if  they  happen  to  be  black.  We  have 
seen  the  best  men,  those  who  stood  by  the  flag  of 
the  Union,  driven  from  their  homes  and  compelled 
to  live  on  the  cold  charity  of  a  cold  North.  We 
have  seen  their  loyal  men  flitting  about  everywhere, 
through  your  cities,  around  your  doors,  melancholy, 
22 


338  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

depressed,  haggard,  like  the  ghosts  of  the  unburied 
dead  on  this  side  of  the  river  Styx,  and  yet  we  have 
borne  it  with  exemplary  patience." 

Mr.  Brandegee  of  Connecticut  followed  in  a  brief, 
eloquent  and  effective  speech.  He  pronounced  it  the 
"plainest,  the  most  appropriate,  the  freest  from  con 
stitutional  objection,  and  the  best  calculated  to  ac 
complish  those  two  master  aims  of  reconstruction. 
The  gathering  up  of  the  fruits  of  our  victories  and  the 
restoration  of  peace  and  union  upon  the  only  stable 
basis  upon  which  peace  and  union  can  be  restored ; 
liberty  to  all,  rights  for  all,  and  protection  to  all. 
It  begins  the  work  of  reconstruction  at  the  right 
end,  and  employs  the  right  tools  for  its  accomplish 
ment.  It  begins  at  the  point  where  Grant  left  off 
the  work  at  Appomattox  Court-House,  and  it  holds 
those  revolted  communities  in  the  grasp  of  war 
until  the  rebellion  shall  have  laid  down  its  spirit,  as 
two  years  ago  it  formally  laid  down  its  arms."  *  * 
"The  old  rebellion,"  he  said,  "has  not  been  sup 
pressed  ;  it  still  lives  ;  it  dominates  in  every  one  of 
these  reconstructed  States;  it  has  made  loyalty 
odious  and  treason  respectable  by  forcing  traitors 
into  the  gubernatorial  chairs  of  ten  of  the  eleven 
of  these  revolted  communities ;  in  ten  out  of  eleven 
it  has  sent  traitors  who  audaciously  demand  seats 
upon  this  floor ;  it  has  clothed  treason  with  the  er 
mine  on  the  bench  of  the  ten  revolt-ed  States ;  it 
has  filled  their  halls  of  local  legislation  ;  it  has  arm 
ed  treason  with  the  sword  of  the  law  in  ten  of  the 


IN   CONGRESS.  339 

States ;  it  holds  to-day  the  pen  of  the  press,  that 
weapon  mightier  than  the  sword  ;  it  desecrates  the 
word  of  the  Most  High  from  all  their  pulpits ;  it 
hisses  out  curses  against  the  Union  from  the  sibilant 
tongues  of  its  women  and  the  prattling  lisp  of  its 
babes  ;  it  proscribes  and  hunts  to  their  deaths  that 
noble  army  of  martyrs,  the  Union  men  of  the  South ; 
and  it  scouts  and  throws  back  in  your  teeth  the 
mild  and  merciful  terms  of  reconstruction  offered 
in  the  constitutional  amendments  of  last  session.  It 
no  longer  creeps  upon  the  ground  as  in  the  hun 
dred  days  which  followed  Sherman's  marvelous 
march  to  the  sea,  or  the  awful  thundering  of  Grant's 
cannon  in  front  of  Richmond ;  but  it  stands  erect, 
defiant,  and  audacious,  demanding  as  a  right  to  ac 
complish  by  legislation  what  it  failed  to  achieve  by 
the  sword ;  and,  countenanced  by  a  weak,  if  not  a 
wicked  Executive,  and  sustained  by  its  copper  sup 
ports  at  the  North,  it  erects  its  brazen  brow  to  the 
sunlight  and  beast  at  the  doors  of  the  Capitol." 

Mr.  Brandegee  was  followed  by  Mr.  Le  Blond, 
who  maintained  that  these  States  were  States  with 
in  the  Union,  that  they  had  never  been  out  of  the 
Union,  nor  their  State  governments  overthrown. 
He  declared  that  General  Sherman  enunciated  the 
true  doctrine  in  the  articles  of  capitulation,  and  if 
it  had  been  followed  by  President  and  Congress, 
peace,  happiness,  and  prosperity  would  now  pervade 
the  country. 

Mr.  Finck  pronounced  the  measure  to  be  a  mili- 


340  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

tary  despotism,  a  violation  of  the  Constitution  and 
the  genius  of  American  institutions.  Mr.  Ingersoll 
of  Illinois  asked  how  any  man  without  blushing 
could  "make  the  charge  against  the  Kepublican 
Union  party  that  it  is  despotic  ;  that  it  is  attempting 
to  destroy  the  liberties  of  the  people  ;  that  it  is 
seeking  to  establish  monarchy  or  an  oligarchy ;  that 
it  is  seeking  to  place  the  powers  of  the  Govern 
ment  in  the  hands  of  the  few  to  the  exclusion  of 
the  many  ? 

Sir,  I  have  but  to  point  with  becoming  pride  to 
the  record  of  the  Republican  party  to  refute  this 
charge.  Has  it  not  enlarged  and  extended  the  area 
of  liberty  ?  Has  it  not  taken  by  the  hand  the  low 
ly,  the  poor,  the  oppressed,  and  the  downtrodden 
and  lifted  them  up  to  a  political  level  with  itself? 
Has  it  not,  in  opposition  to  the  falsely  called  Demo 
cratic  party,  stricken  the  corroding  shackles  from 
four  million  slaves,  which  the  hand  of  tyranny  and 
despotism  fastened  upon  them,  and  which  the  Demo 
cratic  party  kept  upon  them  during  three  genera 
tions  ?  The  shackles  and  that  party  are  going  to 
dust  together." 

Mr.  Eogers  of  New  Jersey  said:  "I  stated  in  a 
speech  which  I  made  here  some  three  or  four  weeks 
ago  that  the  liberties  of  the  people  were  about  be 
ing  taken  away.  I  stated  that  in  good  faith  ;  and 
the  legislation  now  proposed  fully  convinces  me  of 
my  prophecy  on  that  occasion." 

An  earnest  appeal  was  then  made  by  Mr.  Pike 


IN   CONGRESS.  341 

of  Maine,  for  the  protection  of  the  men  who  were 
with  the  country  in  the  great  battle  for  the  life  of 
the  nation.  They  were  hunted  because  they  were 
the  friends  of  the  country.  "The  Government," 
he  said,  "  by  means  of  this  assistance  emerged  from 
the  contest  victorious,  but  it  now  refuses  and  up  to 
this  time  has  refused  to  extend  its  powerful  arm  in 
protection  of  these  humble  allies."  Mr.  Farnsworth 
of  Illinois  saw  the  dawn  of  a  better  day  in  the  pas 
sage  of  the  bill  to  enforce  the  rights  of  all  its  citi 
zens. 

Mr.  Bingham  of  Ohio,  a  member  of  the  joint 
Committee  on  reconstruction,  made  an  elaborate 
and  able  speech  in  which  he  criticized  some  of  its 
provisions  and  suggested  several  amendments.  Mr. 
Hise  of  Kentucky  declared  that  malignant  and 
hostile  feelings  towards  the  people  of  those  States, 
was  the  ground  of  the  determination  "to  visit  this 
most  odious  military  despotism  upon  them."  Notices 
of  amendments  were  given  by  Mr.  Lynch  and  Mr. 
Trimble. 

The  debate  was  resumed  on  the  8th  by  Mr. 
Shanklin  of  Kentucky.  He  bitterly  denounced  the 
measure  and  reminded  the  majority  how  transient 
and  uncertain  were  all  human  events.  Mr.  Thay- 
er  of  Pennsylvania  eloquently  advocated  the 
bill,  in  which  he  said :  "  I  regard  this  as  a  meas 
ure  which  lays  the  grasp  of  Congress  upon  this 
great  question,  a  grasp  which  is  to  hold  on  to  it 
until  it  shall  be  finally  settled.  I  regard  it  as  a 


342  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

measure  which  is  to  take  that  great  question  out 
of  that  sea  of  embarrassment  and  sluggish  inactiv 
ity  in  which,  through  the  course  which  the  Presi 
dent  has  thought  proper  to  pursue,  it  now  rests." 
Mr.  Harding  of  Illinois  pronounced  the  bill  the  best 
measure  that  had  been  offered  for  the  relief  and  pro 
tection  of  the  loyal  people  of  the  South. 

Mr.  Shellabarger  begged  to  remind  learned  gen 
tlemen,  "for,"  said  he,  "there  are  learned  gentlemen 
on  the  other  side  of  this  House  and  as  patriotic  as 
those  on  this  side — that  every  work  on  interna 
tional  law  contemplates,  recognizes,  and  provides 
for  two  states  of  war,  namely :  one  in  which  it  is 
flagrant  and  the  other  in  which  it  is  cessante,  in  the 
technical  language  of  the  books.  The  latter  con 
dition  of  things,  (I  simply  state  the  fact  to  be  so, 
without,  of  course,  stopping  now  to  argue  and  prove 
it)  is  now  upon  the  country,  in  which  a  rebellion 
is  simply  crushed  by  war,  by  the  arms  of  the  Re 
public,  but  is  still  sufficiently  strong  to  overthrow 
and  defy  the  courts  in  nearly  half  the  territories  of 
the  Republic.  That  is  state  of  war  cess  ante  ;  that 
is  a  state  of  things  contemplated  by  your  Constitu 
tion,  and,  thank  God,  the  wise  men  who  framed  the 
Constitution  provided  for  the  case." 

Mr.  Raymond  of  New  York  expressed  the  opin 
ion  that  "all  authority  in  these  States  should  be 
subordinate  to  the  bayonet  and  the  sword.  They 
are  the  only  effective  weapons  we  can  send  there. 
We  send  our  missionaries  and  teachers  there  and 


IN   CONGRESS.  343 

we  allow  these  rebels  to  murder  them.  The  best 
missionaries  we  can  send  there  now  are  the  sword 
and  the  bayonet.  Suspend  these  over  their  heads 
and  keep  them  in  check  until  we  can  send  civil  au 
thority  there.  Let  us  have  that  protection  there 
first,  and  then  let  us  discuss  the  question  what  kind 
of  civil  government  we  shall  establish."  Mr.  Gris- 
wold  of  New  York  would  give  those  States  longer 
time  to  accept  the  Constitutional  amendment. 

Mr.  Garfield  of  Ohio  affirmed  that  Congress  with 
the  laws  and  war  powers  in  its  hands,  had  declared 
that  it  would  "  do  nothing  for  vengeance,  but  every 
thing  for  liberty  and  safety.  The  representatives 
of  the  nation  said  to  the  people  of  the  South,  join 
with  us  in  giving  liberty  and  justice  to  that  race 
which  you  have  so  long  outraged,  make  it  safe  for 
free  loyal  men  to  live  among  you,  bow  to  the  au 
thority  of  our  common  country,  and  we  will  forgive 
the  carnage,  the  desolation,  the  losses,  and  the  un 
utterable  woes  you  have  brought  upon  the  nation, 
and  you  shall  come  back  to  your  places  in  the 
Union  with  no  other  personal  disability  than  this : 
that  your  leaders  shall  not  again  rule  us  except  by 
the  consent  of  two-thirds  of  both  Houses  of  Con 
gress.  That  was  the  proposition  which  this  Con 
gress  submitted  during  its  last  session ;  and  I  am 
here  to  affirm  to-day  that  so  magnanimous,  so  mer 
ciful  a  proposition  has  never  been  submitted  by  a 
sovereignty  to  rebels  since  the  day  when  God  offer 
ed  forgiveness  to  the  fallen  sons  of  men." 


344  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

Mr.  Stevens  thought  the  previous  question  should 
be  sustained  ;  Mr.  Bingham  opposed  it.  Mr.  Banks 
of  Massachusetts  thought  a  two  days'  debate  would 
bring  a  solution  of  the  question ;  and  Mr.  Elclridge 
appealed  for  farther  time.  Mr.  Stevens  moved  the 
previous  question  which  was  not  sustained. — Yeas 
61?  nays  98.  Mr.  Kasson  of  Iowa  stated  that  he  in 
tended  to  offer  a  bill  as  an  amendment,  "to  estab 
lish  an  additional  article  of  war  for  the  more  com 
plete  suppression  of  the  insurrection  against  the 
United  States."  Mr.  Banks  desired  that  the  plan  of 
reconstruction  should  embody  all  the  necessary 
measures  for  the  protection  of  loyal  people,  and  for 
the  preservation  of  the  Government,  and  that  it 
should  exclude  all  extraneous,  hostile,  and  personal 
considerations." 

On  the  9th  the  debate  was  resumed.  Mr.  Ray 
mond  said  he  had  a  suggestion  to  make,  and  that 
was  that  the  bill  and  amendments  be  referred  to  a 
select  committee  of  five  or  seven  members,  to  sit 
during  the  sessions  of  the  House  and  to  report  at 
an  early  date  a  bill  to  provide  for  the  protection  of 
rights  and  preservation  of  peace  in  the  rebel  States, 
and  for  their  speedy  admission,  upon  the  basis  of 
the  Constitutional  amendment,  adopted  at  the  last 
session. 

Mr.  Boutwell  of  Massachusetts  opposed  the  pro 
position  and  insisted  that  the  House  should  hold 
the  question  in  the  hands  of  the  Eepresentatives  of 
the  people,  and  "take  the  judgment  of  this  House 


IN   CONGRESS.  345 

upon  the  question  whether  all  power  shall  be  sur 
rendered  to  the  rebels  of  the  South  or  whether  we 
shall  exert  the  constitutional  authority  we  possess 
over  the  army  (which  is  our  servant  to-day  and  will 
be  our  servant  through  all  this  contest)  in  the  in 
terest  of  loyalty,  and  thus  break  down  the  govern 
ments  in  the  South,  lay  a  basis  on  which  we  may 
be  able  to  build  civil  institutions,  and,  as  soon  as 
we  have  the  opportunity,  prepare  a  way  for  their 
establishment.     But  it  is  the  vainest  delusion,  the 
wildest  of  hopes,  the  most  dangerous  of  aspirations 
to  contemplate  or  even  to  hope  for  the  reconstruc 
tion  of  civil  government  until  the  rebel  despotisms 
enthroned  in  power  in  those  ten  States  shall   be 
broken  up."     Mr.  Eaymond  continued  the  debate, 
and  was  followed  by  Mr.  Niblack  of  Indiana,  who 
was  of  the  impression  that  restoration  was  not  want 
ed  by  the  Republican  party,  as  high  tariff  and  other 
monopoly  interests  were  holding  high  carnival  in 
the  disorganized  condition  of  the  country. 

On  the  12th  the  House  resumed  the  considera 
tion  of  the  bill,  and  Mr.  Bingham  submitted  an 
amendment  providing  that  the  act  should  cease  to 
operate  in  a  State  whenever  the  Constitutional 
amendment  should  become  a  part  of  the  Constitu 
tion,  and  when  any  State  lately  in  insurrection 
should  have  ratified  the  same,  and  modified  its  con 
stitution  and  laws  in  conformity  therewith,  and  pre 
sented  to  Congress  a  constitution  of  government 
republican  in  form  and  not  inconsistent  with  the 


346  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States,  and 
which  should  secure  equal  and  impartial  suffrage  to 
the  male  citizens  of  the  United  States,,  twenty-one 
years  of  age,  resident  therein,  without  distinction 
of  race  or  color,  and  which  should  have  been  ap 
proved  by  Congress,  the  Senators  and  Representa 
tives  from  such  State,  if  found  duly  elected  and 
qualified,  might,  after  having  taken  the  required 
oaths  of  office,  be  admitted  into  Congress  as  such. 

This  amendment  had  been  urged  by  Mr.  Bing- 
ham  in  the  joint  special  committee  on  reconstruc 
tion,  but  had  failed,  and  was  now  offered  by  him, 
and  in  substance  finally  incorporated  into  the  act, 
and  by  it  suffrage  was  given  to  six  hundred  thou 
sand  freedmen  in  the  ten  rebel  States. 

Mr.  Kelley  of  Pennsylvania  spoke  for  the  bill 
not  as  a  measure  of  reconstruction,  but  as  a  meas 
ure  of  protection.  "I  appeal,"  he  said,  "to  them  by 
the  adoption  of  this  bill,  pure  and  simple  as  it  came 
to  us,  with  the  sanction  of  the  committee  of  fifteen, 
to  give  security  to  every  Union  man  in  the  South 
or  avenge  his  wrongs,  and  to  allow  those  \vho  now 
are  held  in  constrained  hostility  to  the  Gvernment 
of  their  fathers  to  avow  a  desire  for  peace  at  the 
end  of  a  lon  and  disastrous  war. 


The  passage  of  this  bill  or  its  equivalent  is  re 
quired  by  the  manhood  of  this  Congress  to  save  it 
from  the  hissing  scorn  and  reproach  of  every  south 
ern  man  who  has  been  compelled  to  seek  a  home  in 


IN   CONGRESS.  347 

the  by-ways  of  the  North,  from  every  homeless 
widow  and  orphan  of  a  Union  soldier  in  the  South 
who  should  have  been  protected  by  the  Govern 
ment,  and  who  despite  widowhood  or  orphanage 
would  have  exulted  in  the  power  of  our  country 
had  it  not  been  for  the  treachery  of  Andrew  John 
son.  In  God's  name,  men  of  the  Thirty-Ninth  Con 
gress,  do  not  interweave  your  names  ignominiously 
with  his  by  betraying  the  Union  men  of  the  South 
and  surrendering  nearly  one  half  of  the  country  to 
rebels  whose  power  your  armies  crushed." 

"I  know  of  but  one  way,"  said  Mr.  Allison  of 
Iowa,  "to  surely  and  certainly  place  this  qontrol  in 
the  hands  of  loyal  men,  namely,  to  treat  as  utterly 
void  the  governments  organized  by  the  President 
in  those  States." 

"The  times,"  said  Mr.  Maynard  of  Tennessee,  "re 
quire  positive,  affirmative  action.  It  is  not  quite 
accurate  to  say  that  we  are  at  peace ;  that  there  is 
no  war.  What  peace  is  it  ?  The  peace  of  Vesuvius 
at  rest,  the  peace  of  the  slumbering  volcano ;  the 
fires  banked  up,  not  extinguished ;  the  strength  of 
the  combatants  exhausted,  but  their  wrath  unap- 
peased ;  no  longer  able  to  continue  the  conflict,  but 
awaiting  a  more  favorable  opportunity  to  renew 
it.  It  is  the  cessation  of  hostilities  rather  than 
peace." 

Mr.  Elaine  of  Maine,  would  vote  for  the  bill 
whether  amended  or  not,  and  he  proposed  an 
amendment  containing  in  substance  the  provisions 


348  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

of  Mr.  Bingham's  amendment,  and  earnestly  ap 
pealed  to  Mr.  Stevens  to  allow  the  House  to  vote 
upon  it.  Mr.  Garfield  made  an  eloquent  and  effec 
tive  speech  in  favor  of  the  bill :  he  said  the  propo 
sition  to  allow  negroes  to  aid  in  putting  clown  the 
rebellion  was  received  with  alarm  even  by  the 
Kepublicans.  *  *  *  "But,  sir,  the  hand  of  God 
has  been  visible  in  this  work,  leading  us  by  degrees 
out  of  the  blindness  of  our  prejudices  to  see  that 
the  fortunes  of  the  Republic  and  the  safety  of  the 
party  of  liberty  are  inseparably  bound  up  with  the 
rights  of  the  black  man.  At  last  our  party  must 
see  that  if  it  would  preserve  its  political  life,  or  if 
we  would  maintain  the  safety  of  the  Republic,  we 
must  do  justice  to  the  humblest  man  in  the  nation, 
whether  black  or  white.  I  thank  God,  that  to-day 
we  have  struck  the  rock ;  we  have  planted  our  feet 
upon  the  truth.  Streams  of  light  will  gleam  out 
from  the  luminous  truth  embodied  in  the  legislation 
of  this  rfay." 

Mr.  Noell  of  Missouri,  spoke  against  the  measure. 
Mr.  Van  Horn  of  New  York,  renewed  the  debate 
on  the  13th  in  a  speech  of  rare  beauty  and  force  : 
"God"  he  said  "in  the  person  of  his  Son,  has  given 
the  world  a  guarantee  that  the  great  truths  of  His 
gospel  shall  triumph  in  the  world,  and  woe  to  the 
nation  or  the  people  who  thrust  themselves  against 
His  Omnipotent  decree.  Onward  and  still  onward 
has  the  great  thought  of  the  universal  brotherhood 
of  mm,  a  common  immortality  to  all,  an  equal 


IN   CONGRESS.  349 

chance  in  the  race  of  life  to  secure  the  highest  hope 
of  a  common  Christianity,  all  of  which  is  the  cen 
tral,  all-controlling  idea  of  this  gospel,  been  making 
its  way,  elevating  by  degrees,  but  surely,  the 
thoughts  of  the  people,  producing  here  and  there 
startling  revelations  and  hastening  the  world  on  to 
still  higher  hopes  and  a  more  illustrious  advance. 
The  struggle,  though  silent,  is  majestic  and  grand. 
It  is  the  working  of  the  great  thought  of  Omnipo 
tence  in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  men,  stirring  them 
to  the  oftentimes  wonderful  developments  of  progress 
that  astonish  the  world." 

•jf******* 

"The  heaving,  surging  sea  of  angry,  bloody  strife 
has  become  still  as  the  wave  of  battle  has  subsided, 
but  down  in  its  mighty  depths  the  current  rolls  on 
and  on,  and  still  the  war  of  antagonisms  and  con 
flicting  ideas  continues.  God,  my  friends,  has  not 
abandoned  the  field  yet,  and  will  not  leave  it  until 
every  knee  shall  bow  and  every  tongue  shall  confess 
that  he  is  God  forever  more.  His  eternal  justice  is 
deaf  to  all  appeals  that  come  short  of  being  inspired 
by  the  Divine  precept  embodied  in  the  '  golden  rule/ 
and  it  is  useless  to  presume  upon  His  forbearance 
and  mercy  while  we  regard  iniquity  in  our  hearts 
and  practice  it  toward  those  for  whom  He  has  over 
ruled  this  great  conflict  and  directed  it  to  a  happy 
issue." 

Mr.  Stevens  offered  an  amendment  as  a  substitute 
for  the  bill  reported  by  the  committee.  Mr.  Bout- 


350  KECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

well  spoke  for  the  measure  declaring  that  "for  the 
purposes  which  we  have  in  view,  which  is  to  keep 
in  our  own  hands,  as  the  political  department,  the 
reorganization  of  these  ten  States,  this  bill  in  its 
present  form  is  of  vital  importance  to  the  future 
welfare  of  the  country."  Mr.  Schenck  of  Ohio,  was 
in  favor  of  the  amendment  offered  by  Mr.  Elaine. 
"We  ask"  he  said,  "for  a  scheme;  we  ask  for  con 
sistency  ;  we  ask  for  a  plan ;  we  ask  for  a  policy  to 
be  adopted  by  Congress.  *  *  *  *  The  friends 
of  the  amendment  say — 'pass  your  bill  declaring 
martial  law,  but  accompany  it  with  an  additional 
provision  which  shall  indicate  to  the  States  that 
have  been  in  rebellion,  what  you  expect  them  to  do, 
in  order  that  they  may  get  rid  of  martial  law  by 
showing  their  fitness  to  have  it  lifted  from  them.' " 

Mr.  Stevens  moved  the  previous  question,  but  the 
House  refused  to  sustain  it.  Mr.  Bingham  pressed 
his  amendment.  He  would  "bow"  he  said  "to  the 
decision  of  the  House,"  but  he  did  ask  the  "poor 
privilege  of  having  a  vote  by  yeas  and  nays  on  this 
question ;  shall  the  amendment  pass  and  thereby 
notify  the  people  of  the  insurgent  States  whether 
it  is  our  purpose  to  allow  them  on  any  terms 
whatever  to  reform  their  constitutions  and  be  restored 
to  their  political  relations  to  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  as  States  of  this  Union." 

Mr.  Elaine  asked  if  Mr.  Bingham  would  be  will 
ing  to  take  his  amendment  as  a  substitute;  Mr. 
Bingham  had  no  objection  if  he  would  propose  the 


IX   CONGRESS.  351 

constitutional  amendment  with  it.  Mr.  Elaine  then 
moved  that  the  bill  be  referred  to  the  Judiciary 
Committee,  with  instructions  to  report  back  imme 
diately  his  amendment  as  an  additional  section,  and  on 
the  motion  he  demanded  the  previous  question  which 
was  sustained.  Yeas  65,  nays  75.  On  motion  of 
Mr.  Stevens  the  main  question  was  ordered.  Yeas 
85,  nays  VS.  The  debate  was  then  closed  by  Mr. 
Stevens;  the  vote  was  taken  on  Mr.  Elaine's 
motion  to  refer  the  bill  to  the  Judiciary  Committee 
with  instructions  and  it  was  lost.  Yeas  69,  nays  94. 
Ey  unanimous  consent  Mr.  Stevens'  substitute  was 
considered  as  the  original  bill.  The  question  was 
then  taken  on  its  passage  by  yeas  and  nays.  For 
the  bill  109,  against  it  55.  Mr.  Stevens  asked  the 
Speaker  if  it  would  be  "in  order  for  me  now  to  say 
that  we  indorse  the  language  of  good  old  Laertes, 
'that  Heaven  rules  us  yet,  and  there  are  Gods 
above?'" 

In  the  Senate  on  the  14th  the  bill  was  read  a 
second  time  and  Mr.  Williams  of  Oregon,  who  orig 
inally  introduced  it,  gave  notice  that  he  would  move 
the  amendment  that  had  been  moved  in  the  House 
by  Mr.  Elaine.  On  the  15th  the  Senate  resumed 
the  consideration  of  the  bill;  and  Mr.  Williams 
stated  that  after  consultation  he  had  concluded  that 
the  passage  of  the  bill  would  be  endangered  by  any 
amendments,  and  that  he  would  not  move  the 
amendment  of  which  he  had  given  notice.  He  sta 
ted  that  he  should  press  it  to  a  vote  if  possible,  the 


352  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

next  day  and  asked  its  friends  to  refrain  from  gen 
eral  debate.  Mr.  Johnson  of  Maryland,  remarked 
that  the  adoption  of  the  amendment  proposed  by 
Mr.  Williams  would  make  the  bill  very  much  less 
objectionable;  that  he  should  not  have  voted  for  it 
even  if  it  had  not  been  so  amended;  that  he  was 
anxious  to  improve  the  bill  and  would  therefore 
move  the  amendment  and  call  for  a  division. 

Mr.  Stewart  of  Nevada,  regretted  that  Mr.  Wil 
liams  should  have  changed  his  mind;  as  the  military 
bill  without  the  amendment  would  be  an  acknowl 
edgement  that  after  two  years'  thought  and  discus 
sion  they  were  unable  to  reconstruct.  These  people 
should  have  a  road  open  by  which  to  escape  military 
government;  he  would  say  to  them  "whenever  you 
will  do  right,  whenever  you  will  do  justice  you  shall 
receive  mercy." 

Mr.  Wilson  of  Massachusetts,  moved  to  amend 
the  amendment  by  inserting  a  clause  providing  that 
"by  constitution  and  laws  all  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  should  equally  possess  the  right  to  pursue 
all  lawful  avocations  and  business,  to  receive  the 
equal  benefits  of  public  schools,  and  to  have  the 
equal  protection  of  all  the  rights  of  citizens  of  the 
United  States."  Mr.  Wilson  said,  "  universal  man 
hood  suffrage  has  ceased  to  be  a  contested  issue  in 
America.  Although  it  is  not  yet  incorporated  into 
constitutions  and  laws,  it  is  just  as  much  an  achieved 
fact  in  the  ten  rebel  States  as  it  is  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  the  State  of  Tennessee,  or  the  Territories. 


IN   CONGRESS.  353 

The  battle  of  manhood  suffrage  is  fought  and  won; 
all  we  have  to  do  now  is  to  provide  for  the  formal 
incorporation  of  that  principle  into  constitutions 
and  laws." 

Mr,  Howard  of  Michigan,  thought  the  amend 
ment  entirely  incompatible  with  the  provisions  of 
the  bill.  The  bill  proceeded  upon  the  principle  that 
the  rebel  States  had  been  conquered  by  the  arms 
of  the  United  States.  The  bill  "  recognizes  the  mil 
itary  authority  of  the  United  States  over  these 
countries.  It  recognizes  the  right  and  duty  of  Con 
gress  to  provide  for  their  military  government,  for 
the  protection  of  persons  and  property,  and  the 
preservation  of  any  vestige  of  liberty  that  may 
remain  among  them.  If  we  have  the  power  thus 
to  act  in  the  rebel  States,  then  these  so  called  States 
themselves  are  not  now  invested  with  State  rights 
and  the  power  of  State  legislation.  *  *  *  If 
therefore  we  are  to  govern  these  States  by  military 
power,  let  us  say  so  plainly,  and  not  in  the  same 
bill  insidiously  and  deceitfully  grant  civil  powers  to 
the  States  themselves  which  we  propose  to  rule  by 
the  sword." 

Mr.  Williams  said  that  true  policy  indicated  to 
the  friends  of  the  measure  the  passing  of  the  bill 
without  amendment,  and  then  the  passing  of  addi 
tional  bills,  or  regulations  for  the  desired  legislation. 
He  feared  the  amendment  of  the  bill  would  eventu 
ate  in  its  defeat.  Mr.  Kirkwood  of  Iowa,  wished 
to  know  if  it  would  be  any  more  easy  to  pass  a  new 
23 


354  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

bill  than  to  amend  the  bill  and  send  it  back  to 
the  House.  "The  President"  replied  Mr.  Williams 
"had  ten  days  in  which  to  determine  whether  he 
would  sign  the  bill  or  not,  and  if  vetoed  it  must  be 
passed  by  a  two  thirds  vote — no  time  should  be  lost. 
Mr.  Stewart  could  not  vote  for  the  bill  unless  amend 
ed."  Mr.  Morrill  thought  "it  a  mild-mannered  bill," 
and  that  Mr.  Stewart  was  premature  in  avowing  his 
hostility  to  it.  He  was  for  it,  with  or  without  the 
amendment.  "I  say  to  the  honorable  Senator  from 
Nevada  that  he  should  be — I  fear  he  will  have 
occasion  to  be — vastly  more  solicitous  for  an  apolo 
gy  for  not  passing  this  bill  than  for  reasons  to  justify 
himself  in  doing  so.  Sir,  if  there  ever  was  a  meas 
ure  demanded  of  a  legislative  tribunal,  this  is  the  one. 
This  is  an  advance  measure;  a  measure  demanded 
by  the  times;  a  measure  quite  too  long  postponed, 
in  my  judgment." 

Mr.  Stewart  earnestly  pressed  the  amendment, — 
it  had  already  received  the  votes  of  a  majority  of 
the  union  members  of  the  House.  "It  was"  he 
said  "defeated  by  a  minority  of  the  Union  members 
coalescing  with  the  Democrats."  Mr.  Williams  de 
sired  a  vote  indicating  the  sense  of  the  Senate  upon 
the  amendment.  He  was  not  hostile  to  the  amend 
ment,  but  it  had  been  represented  to  him  by  mem 
bers  of  the  House  that  the  bill  would  be  lost  if  it 
went  back  to  that  body.  Mr.  Sherman  said  this  was 
the  gravest  question  that  had  come  before  Congress^ 
at  any  period  of  its  deliberations,  and  he  was  not  to 


IN   CONGRESS.  355 

be  influenced  in  the  slightest  degree  by  the  opinions 
of  members  of  the  House.  Mr.  Conness  hoped  the 
suggestions  of  Mr.  Williams  would  receive  the 
attention  of  the  Senate  and  that  the  amendment 
would  be  first  discussed  and  acted  upon. 

Mr.  Hendricks  said  the  bill  authorized  the  General 
of  the  army  to  assign  officers  in  the  military 
districts,  and  he  desired  the  Senator  from  Oregon  to 
say  if  the  President  will  have  any  command  of  the 
officers  of  the  army  after  they  have  been  assigned 
by  the  General  of  the  army.  "I  have  no  doubt  in 
my  own  mind"  replied  Mr.  Williams  "that  the  Pres 
ident  of  the  United  States  by  virtue  of  the  authority 
vested  in  him  by  the  Constitution,  may  overrule 
any  order  that  may  be  made  by  the  General  of  the 
army  that  does  not  controvert  this  law."  Mr. 
Henderson  had  not  been  pleased  with  the  military 
administration  of  affairs  in  the  rebel  States.  He 
thought  the  scope  of  the  measure  simply  gave  the 
sanction  of  Congress,  to  military  administration  by 
the  President  in  the  Southern  States.  They  were 
not  injuring  the  South  half  so  much  as  they  were 
themselves  by  military  government,  and  he  doubted 
whether  it  would  be  any  protection  to  loyal  men. 
"There  is"  he  said,  "but  one  solution,  and  there  will 
never  be  but  one  solution,  and  that  is  to  ascertain 
what  the  disease  originally  was,  and  then  apply  the 
remedy.  The  disease  was  aristocracy.  The  disease 
was  that  there  were  persons  in  the  southern  States 
not  entitled  to  civil  or  political  rights.  I  mean  the 


356  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

negroes.  It  is  a  clear  proposition  that  we  have  got 
to  do  one  of  three  things;  we  must,  first,  either 
kill  the  negroes;  or  second,  we  must  send  them  out 
of  the  country;  or  third,  if  we  intend  to  retain 
them,  we  must  give  them  civil  and  political  rights. 
What  is  the  use  of  hesitating  about  arriving  at  that 
result?  If  we  have  made  up  our  minds  to  recon 
struct  in  the  South  there  is  no  other  way  of  recon 
struction  and  we  need  not  send  the  military  there." 
Mr.  Dixon  wished  to  know  "whether  it  would  not 
be  better  that  that  privilege  or  right  should  be 
given  them  by  the  free  action  of  the  Southern 
States  themselves,  by  amendments  of  their  own 
State  constitutions.  "Certainly"  replied  Mr.  Hen 
derson  "if  they  will  do  it."  Mr.  Henderson  further 
declared — "unless  you  reorganize  in  such  a  way  as 
to  give  each  and  every  individual  the  power  to  pro 
tect  his  own  rights,  I  say  reconstruction  will  be  a 
humbug  and  a  failure."  Mr.  Howard  had  "no  doubt 
that  it  was  within  the  competency  of  Congress, 
under  the  Constitution,  in  the  form  of  a  law,  to  im 
pose  any  duty  upon  any  military  officer  by  name 
or  by  rank,  and  that  it  was  not  in  the  competency 
of  the  President,  after  the  passage  of  such  a  law,  to 
thwart  its  execution  or  interfere  with  its  execution 
in  any  way." 

Mr.   Yates   said   "the    Congress   of   the   United 
States  says  that  the  President  shall  do  his  duty;  he 
shall  give  this  protection  as  Commander-in-Chief  of* 
the  Army  and  Navy.     If  he  fails  to  give  it,  then  there 


IX   CONGRESS.  357 

is  another  question;  then  Congress  still  has  the 
power  in  its  own  hands."  He  was  in  favor  of  the 
amendment  and  of  the  bill.  Mr.  Williams  moved 
to  hold  an  evening  session;  Mr.  Doolittle,  Mr.  Hen- 
dricks  and  Mr.  McDougall  opposed  it,  but  it  was 
agreed  to. 

In  the  evening  the  Senate  resumed  the  consider 
ation  of  the  bill,  the  pending  question  being  on  Mr. 
Wilsons'  amendment,  to  the  amendment  which  was 
rejected.  The  question  recurring  on  the  amend 
ment,  Mr.  Hendricks  moved  to  so  amend  it  as  to 
provide  for  impartial,  instead  of  universal  suffrage. 
"The  passage  of  this  bill"  said  Mr.  Saulsbury  "if  it 
shall  become  an  act  either  by  the  signature  of  the 
President  or  by  the  vote  of  Congress  over  a  veto, 
is  in  my  judgment,  as  wre  heard  this  afternoon,  the 
death-knell,  not  only  of  the  Republic,  but  of  civil 
and  constitutional  liberty  in  this  country.  Mr. 
Davis  was  as  much  opposed  to  the  bill  as  the  Senator 
from  Delaware,  but  he  should  not  hesitate  one 
instant  in  voting  for  it; — if  there  was  a  choice 
between  evils  at  all, — then  it  must  be  very  appa 
rent,  that  impartial  suffrage  was  the  least  of  the  two. 

Mr.  Doolittle  hoped  the  amendment  would  be 
adopted ;  if  the  bill  was  to  pass  he  attached  great 
importance  to  the  effect  it  was  likely  to  produce  in 
the  Southern  States.  Mr.  Wilson  said,  that  colored 
men  were  citizens  and  that  settlement  upon  any 
other  basis  than  perfect  equality  of  rights  and 
privileges  among  citizens  was  mere  trifling,  only 


358  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

keeping  open  questions  for  future  controversy; 
nothing  was  settled  unless  upon  the  bases  of  justice. 
Mr.  Doolittle  asked  if  Mr.  Hendricks'  amendment 
did  not  "put  whites  and  blacks  upon  the  same 
ground  precisely,  so  that  whatever  qualifications  were 
required  of  one  should  be  required  of  the  other?" 
Mr.  Wilson  replied  that  "  impartial  suffrage  means 
nothing  more  nor  less  than  the  exclusion  of  nearly 
all  the  colored  persons  from  the  polls.  That  is  plain 
and  evident.  The  only  opportunity  for  these  men 
is  to  establish  universal  suffrage  on  the  basis  of  man 
hood.  I  would  require  the  people  of  the  rebel 
States  to  adopt  manhood  suffrage  and  to  give  equal 
ity  of  rights  and  privileges  to  all  citizens  without 
distinction  of  color." 

Mr.  McDougall  was  in  favor  of  Mr.  Hendricks' 
amendment,  but  was  opposed  to  the  original  amend 
ment,  which  "  tended  to  put  the  Southern  States 
into  the  hands  of  negroes,  many  of  whom  were 
savages,  held  in  subjection  by  superior  force ;  men 
who  had  no  families,  no  education,  no  idea  of  liberty 
except  escape  from  labor,  and  some  of  whom  were 
as  ignorant  and  as  low  as  when  they  were  taken 
slaves  by  the  King  of  Dahomey,  and  sold  upon  the 
Guinea  coast." 

Mr.  Lane  would  vote  for  the  amendment,  believ 
ing  it  necessary  to  make  a  perfect  system  for  the 

restoration  of  the  rebellious  States;   but  he  was 

•  t 

opposed  to  the  amendment  substituting  "impartial 

for  "universal"  suffrage.     "This   amendment"  he 


IN   CONGRESS.  359 

said  "strikes  the  key  note  of  restoration."  Mr, 
Willey  felt  constrained  to  vote  for  the  impartial 
suffrage  amendment,  but  Mr.  Hendricks  withdrew 
it.  Mr.  Johnson  said  the  amendment  he  had  pro 
posed  was  not  his  own ;  it  came  from  the  Senator 
from  Oregon  and  he  supposed  it  had  received  the 
assent  of  his  particular  friends  and  he  was  much 
surprised  when  he  withdrew  it.  Mr.  Howard  was 
opposed  to  the  amendment  because  it  was  a  com 
plete  defection  from  the  action  of  the  Committee  on 
Reconstruction  relating  to  the  right  of  suffrage.  "I 
see,"  he  said  "in  this  amendment  a  fatal  snare  by 
which  we  shall  be  deceived  in  the  end,  by  which  we 
are  to  be  deluded  into  a  premature  readmission  of 
the  rebel  States  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  us 
ultimately  repent  of  our  folly  and  rashness.  Mr. 
Buckalew  had  been  solicited  to  vote  for  the  amend 
ment  by  gentlemen  in  whose  judgment  he  had 
great  confidence  but  he  was  averse  he  said  "from 
conviction  to  the  introduction  of  any  State  into  this 
Union,  or  to  her  rehabilitation  with  all  her  former 
political  powers,  upon  the  condition  that  she  shall 
make  suffrage  within  her  limits  universal  and  unlim 
ited  among  the  male  inhabitants  over  twenty-one 

years  of  age." 

#*#*#**# 

"I  shall  not  vote  to  degrade  suffrage.  I  shall  not 
vote  to  pollute  and  corrupt  the  foundations  of  polit 
ical  power  in  this  country,  either  in  my  own  State 
or  in  any  other.  I  shall  resist  it  everywhere  and  at 


360  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

all  times.  If  overborne,  if  contrary  and  opposing 
opinions  prevail,  I  shall  simply  submit  to  the  neces 
sity  which  I  cannot  resist,  leaving  to  just  men  and 
to  future  times  the  vindication  of  my  conduct," 

Mr.  Cragin  thought  Senators  who  had  voted  for 
the  Constitutional  amendment  could  not  consistently 
vote  against  the  amendment,  and  unless  it  was 
adopted  he  should  vote  for  the  bill  most  reluctantly. 
Mr.  Frelinghuysen  moved  to  amend  the  amendment 
so  as  to  require  a  residence  of  one  year,  and  it  was 
accepted  by  Mr.  Johnson.  Mr.  Williams  desired  a 
vote  on  the  amendment  so  as  to  signify  the  inten 
tions  of  the  Senate ;  but  Mr.  Henderson  moved  to 
amend  it,  so  as  to  except  such  as  may  be  disqualified 
on  account  of  rebellion,  felony  at  the  common  law, 
idiocy  or  insanity.  He  did  not  say  he  should  vote 
for  the  bill  even  should  it  be  so  amended.  Mr. 
Brown  gave  notice  that  he  should  move  to  amend 
the  third  section  of  the  House  bill,  by  providing 
that  in  all  elections  there  should  be  no  exclusion  of 
any  person  from  suffrage  on  the  ground  of  race, 
color  or  previous  condition  of  servitude  ;  he  thought 
that  would  achieve  the  desired  end  without  the 
embarrassments  that  served  to  hang  around  the 
pending  amendment. 

Mr.  Hendricks  addressed  the  Senate  in  opposition 
to  the  House  bill; — he  knew  of  no  language  which 
he  could  command  that  w^ould  describe  his  hostility 
to  that,  and  to  the  Louisiana  bill ;  he  denounced  the 
measure  as  despotic;  he  said  that  "in  no  republic 


IN   CONGRESS.  361 

that  has  existed  on  earth,  and  in  no  circumstances, 
connected  with  the  history  of  the  United  States,  do 
we  find  a  parallel  for  this  proposition.     It  has  no 
virtue ;  it  has  every  vice  that  so  short  a  bill  can 
possess."      After  further  discussion,  in  which  Mr. 
Davis,  Mr.  Henderson,  Mr.  Pomeroy  and  Mr.  Wil 
liams  briefly  participated,  Mr.  Henderson's  amend 
ment  was  agreed  to.     The  bill  was  further  amended, 
on  motion  of  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  so  that  the  con 
stitutions  should  be  formed  by  a  convention  of 
delegates  chosen  by  persons  who  were  authorized 
by  the  bill  to  vote  on  the   ratification  or  rejection 
of  the  constitutions.     Mr.  Morrill  moved  to  amend 
the  amendment  so  that  the  people  of  any  of  the 
so-called  Confederate  States  should  give  assent  to 
the   Constitutional  amendment.     Mr.  Sumner  said 
there  was  another  amendment  "that  ought  to  come 
in  in  that  same  connection,  though  I  feel  that  this 
wrhole  proposition  is  so  thoroughly  vicious  in  every 
line  and  in  every  word  from  the  first  to  the  last, 
that  in  order  to  make  it  at  all  so  as  to  receive,  it 
seems  to  me,  a  single  vote,  it  ought  to  be  amended 
from  the  first  word  to  the  last."  Mr.  Merrill's  amend 
ment  was  then  so  modified,  on  the  motion  of  Mr. 
Frelinghuysen,  as   to  require   the  assent  of  each 
State  after  it  should  be  reconstructed,  to  the   Con 
stitutional  amendment.     It  was  then  moved  by  Mr. 
Sumner  to  amend  the  amendment  by  adding,  "by 
the  ratification  of  three-fourths  of  the  legislatures 
of  the  several  States,  having  v&lid  legislatures." 


362  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

The  amendment  was  opposed  by  Mr.  Johnson,  Mr. 
Doolittle,  Mr.  Saulsbury  and  Mr.  Hendricks,  and 
advocated  by  Mr.  Sumner.  It  was  rejected. — Yeas 
7,  nays  25.  Mr.  Henderson  moved  to  amend  the 
original  bill  by  substituting  the  Louisiana  bill  with 
various  modifications.  Mr.  Williams,  after  express 
ing  his  surprise  at  the  proposition  made  by  Mr. 
Henderson,  moved  that  the  Senate  adjourn,  and 
the  Senate  after  ordering  the  substitute  to  be  print 
ed,  adjourned  at  three  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

The  debate  was  resumed  on  the  16th  by  Mr. 
Doolittle,  who  rose,  he  said,  "to  plead  for  the  life  of 
the  Republic,  and  to  plead  for  that  spirit  in  which 
it  lives  and  moves  and  has  its  being,  and  without 
which  it  is  dead  already ;  and  second,  to  answer  for 
myself  because  I  have  been  pleading  for  it  with  all 
the  power  that  God  has  given  me,  for  the  last  two 
years  in  my  own  State,  in  this  Senate,  and  elsewhere." 
He  denounced  the  bill  and  kindred  propositions, 
"  call  them  by  what  name  you  will,  they  are  in  sub 
stance  a  declaration  of  war  against  ten  States  of 
this  Union — they  are  nothing  more,  they  are  noth 
ing  less." 

Mr.  Saulsbury  followed  Mr.  Doolittle  in  opposi 
tion  to  the  measure  which  had  its  origin,  he  said,  in 
the  unhallowed  motives  "of  the  desire  of  gain,  the 
desire  of  power,  the  desire  of  revenge."  He  pro 
nounced  it  a  measure  for  reducing  their  own  race  ». 
to  the  abject  control  of  an  inferior  race.  "Sir,  go 


IN    CONGRESS.  363 

and  search  the  history  of  the  world/'  he  said,  "go 
read  the  history  of  any  civilized  people  on  earth, 
and  point  me  if  you  can  to  a  single  instance  where 
members  of  a  superior  race  have  attempted  to  de 
grade  their  own  race  into  subjection  to  an  inferior 
and  a  lately  servile  race." 

Mr.  Davis  followed  in  a  long,  bitter  and  vehe 
ment  attack  upon  the  bill  and  its  supporters  :  "  The 
bill,"  he  said,  "  and  the  kindred  measures  passed  and 
pending,  are  charged  with  the  insolence,  oppressions, 
cruelty,  and  vengeful  spirit  of  the  fiercest  conquer 
ors,  and  such  is  the  only  legitimate  affinity  between 
its  authors  and  conquest," 

Mr.  Sherman  desired  to  move  a  substitute  for  the 
bill ;  the  question  was  then  token  on  Mr.  Johnson's 
amendment  and  Mr.  Henderson's  amendment,  and 
they  were  rejected  without  a  division.  Mr.  Sher 
man  then  moved  his  amendment  as  a  substitute  for 
the  House  bill.  That  amendment  had  been  con 
sidered  in  a  caucus  of  Republican  members,  had 
been  referred  to  a  committee  of  seven  of  which  Mr. 
Sherman  was  made  chairman  to  re-cast  it,  had  been 
reported  to  the  caucus,  agreed  to,  and  Mr.  Sherman 
instructed  to  move  it  as  a  substitute.  The  provi 
sion  of  the  5th  section  which  was  moved  in  the 
Joint  Committee  on  Reconstruction  by  Mr.  B ing- 
ham,  giving  colored  men  the  right  to  vote,  which 
had  been  incorporated  in  that  section  by  Mr.  Bing- 
ham  and  Mr.  Blaine,  and  was  in  the  amendment 
moved  by  Mr.  Johnson,  was  struck  out  by  a  rna- 


364  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

jority  of  the  committee  of  seven,  but  was  retained 
after  an  earnest  debate  in  the  caucus  by  a  vote  of 
15  to  13.  The  first  four  sections  of  the  substitute 
were  in  substance  the  bill  originally  introduced  by 
Mr.  Williams,  reported  in  the  House  by  Mr.  Stevens, 
and  passed ;  the  5th  section  w^as  in  substance  the 
amendment  proposed  by  the  Joint  Committee  on 
Eeconst ruction  by  Mr.  Bingham,  moved  by  him  in  the 
House  and  by  Mr.  Elaine,  and  in  the  Senate  by  Mr. 
Johnson,  and  modified  and  amended  by  the  Sen 
ate. 

Mr.  Cowan  emphatically  denied  the  power  to 
pass  the  bill  which  he  pronounced  "the  sum  of  all  atro 
cities."  Mr.  Buckalew moved  to  amend  the  bill  so  that 
sentences  affecting  life  should  be  approved  by  the 
President.  Mr.  Williams  maintained  that  the 
amendment  was  not  necessary,  as  the  regulations 
for  the  government  of  the  Army  required  it,  and  it 
was  rejected. — Yeas  14,  nays  26.  Mr.  Hendricks 
moved  that  no  punishment  should  be  inflicted  which 
is  not  prescribed  by  law — rejected. — Yeas  8,  nays 
28.  Mr.  Hendricks  moved  to  amend  so  that  the 
bill  should  declare  that  "the  right  to  vote  shall  be 
denied  to  none,"  instead  of  that  "the  elective  fran 
chise  shall  be  enjoyed  by  all ;"  rejected  without  a 
division.  Slight  amendments  were  offered  and  re 
jected.  Mr.  Hendricks  then  addressed  the  Senate 
in  opposition  to  the  substitute  moved  by  Mr.  Sher 
man.  He  charged  that  the  bill  proposed  to  go  into 


IN   CONGRESS.  365 

ten  States  and  establish  a  military  government 
there,  "unknown  to  the  common  law,  unknown  to 
the  law  of  our  race  for  a  thousand  years ;  that 
military  power  and  military  government,  the  will 
of  the  commanding  General,  shall  be  the  form  of 
government,  for  men,  women  and  children  in  time 
of  peace  ;  a  bill  which  under  the  pretence  of  es 
tablishing  republican  governments,  takes  away  from 
the  government  there  every  republican  principle 
and  form  that  can  possibly  be  conceived." 

Mr.  Sherman  briefly  explained  the  substitute. 
He  said :  "  The  first  four  sections  of  this  substitute 
contain  nothing  but  what  is  in  the  present  law. 
There  is  not  a  single  thing  in  the  first  four  sections 
that  does  not  now  exist  by  law. 

1  #         *         #         #         *         #         #         # 

Now,  in  regard  to  the  fifth  section,  which  is  the 
main  and  material  feature  of  this  bill,  I  think  it  is 
right  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  before 
its  adjournment,  should  designate  some  way  by 
which  the  southern  States  may  reorganize  loyal 
State  governments  in  harmony  with  the  Constitu 
tion  and  laws  of  the  United  States  and  the  senti 
ment  of  the  people,  and  find  their  way  back  to 
these  Halls.  My  own  judgment  is  that  that  fifth 
section  will  point  out  a  clear,  easy  and  right  way 
for  these  States  to  be  restored  to  their  full  power 
in  the  Government.  All  that  it  demands  of  the 
people  of  the  southern  States  is  to  extend  to  all 


366  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

their  male  citizens,  without  distinction  of  race  or 
color,  the  elective  franchise." 

The  debate  was  further  continued  by  Mr.  Bucka- 
lew,  Mr.  Doolittle,  Mr.  Norton,  Mr.  Van  Winkle,  Mr. 
Saulsbury  and  Mr.  Davis.  Mr.  Norton  moved  to 
strike  out  "rebel  States,"  and  insert  "the  States  now 
unrepresented  in  Congress,"  but  it  was  rejected 
without  a  division.  On  motion  of  Mr.  Wilson  the 
yeas  and  nays  were  taken  on  the  substitute,  and  it 
was  agreed  to. — Yeas  32,  nays  3.  Mr.  Sherman 
moved  to  strike  out  the  preamble  and  insert : 
"Whereas  no  legal  State  governments  or  adequate 
protection  for  life  or  property  now  exists  in  the 
rebel  States  of  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Caro 
lina,  Georgia,  Mississippi,  Alabama,  Louisiana, 
Florida,  Texas  and  Arkansas;  and  whereas  it  is 
necessary  that  peace  and  good  order  should  be  en 
forced  in  said  States  until  loyal  and  republican 
State  governments  can  be  legally  established :  There 
fore." 

Mr0  Saulsbury  felt  a  full  "assurance  that  e life's 
fitful  fever'  will  soon  be  over  with  the  political 
party  which  has  done  so  much  injury  to  this  coun 
try  for  the  past  six  years.  The  passage  of  this  act 
I  regard  as  the  death-knell  to  the  worst  enemy  of 
my  country,  and  that  is  the  Republican  party."  The 
motion  to  amend  the  preamble  was  agreed  to.  Mr. 
McDougall  then  moved  that  the  elective  franchise 
should  not  apply  to  citizens  made  so  by  the  civil 
rights  act  until  they  had  been  five  years  such  citi- 


IN    CONGRESS.  367 

zens — lost. — Yeas  7,  nays  30.  Mr.  Norton  moved 
to  strike  out  the  preamble  of  the  bill. — Yeas  9,  nays 
27.  On  motion  of  Mr.  Doolittle  the  bill  was  amend 
ed  at  the  end  of  the  4th  section  by  adding  a  pro 
viso  :  "That  no  sentence  of  death  under  the  provi 
sion  of  this  act  shall  be  carried  into  effect  without 
the  approval  of  the  President." — Yeas  21,  nays  16. 

Mr.  McDougall  then  spoke  in  unqualified  condem 
nation  of  the  measure  which  he  pronounced  "black 
as  night,  and  hideous  as  black."  On  motion  of  Mr. 
Wilson  the  yeas  and  nays  were  ordered  on  the  pas 
sage  of  the  bill,  and  the  question  being  taken,  re 
sulted — Yeas  29,  nays  10. 

The  title  was  changed  by  striking  out  "insurrec 
tionary  States/'  and  inserting  "rebel  States." — Yeas 
27,  nays  4.  So  the  bill  giving  protection  to  the 
people  of  the  rebel  States,  and  giving  suffrage  to 
the  negro  race  in  those  States,  passed  the  Senate 
at  twenty  minutes  past  six  o'clock,  Sunday  morn 
ing,  February  17th,  1867. 

In  the  House  on  the  18th,  Mr.  Stevens  moved 
that  the  amendment  of  the  Senate  be  non-concur 
red  in  and  the  House  ask  a  Committee  of  Confer 
ence.  Mr.  Boutwell  declared  his  opposition  to  the 
substitute  of  the  Senate  to  be  fundamental  and 
conclusive ;  it  proposed  to  reconstruct  the  rebel 
States  at  once  through  the  agency  of  disloyal  men. 
Mr.  Stokes  of  Tennessee  would  not  vote  to  place 
the  government  of  the  rebel  States  in  the  hands  of 
rebels.  If  the  bill  passed,  he  predicted  that  loyal 


368  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

men,  black  and  white  would  go  under.  Mr.  Stevens 
said,  "pass  this  bill  and  you  open  the  flood-gates  of 
misery;  you  disgrace  in  my  judgment  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States."  Mr.  Elaine  thought  the 
proposition  to  send  the  bill  to  a  conference  commit 
tee  was  simply  a  proposition  to  do  nothing  at  all, 
and  he  called  upon  the  friends  of  a  Republican  form 
of  Government  and  universal  suffrage  to  vote  for 
the  measure  as  it  came  from  the  Senate.  Mr.  Wilson 
of  Iowa,  avowed  his  intention  to  vote  for  the  bill ; 
there  was  too  much  good  in  it  to  be  rejected. 

Mr.  Bingham  should  vote  for  the  bill  and  should 
neither  ask  pardon  of,  nor  offer  apology  to  any  man. 
"For  myself,"  he  said,  "I  had  rather  that  my  right 
hand  should  forget  its  cunning  and  that  my  tongue 
should  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth,  than  to  find 
myself  here  so  false  to  my  own  convictions,  and  so 
false  to  the  high  trust  committed  to  me  by  that  people 
who  sent  me  here,  as  to  vote  against  this  bill.  Not 
that  I  think  this  the  most  perfect  form  of  legislation, 
but  I  know  that  the  defeat  of  this  bill  to-day  is 
really  a  refusal  to  enact  any  law  whatever  for  the 
protection  of  any  man  in  that  vast  portion  of  our 
country  which  was  so  recently  swept  over  by  our 
armies  from  the  Potomac  to  the  Rio  Grande." 

Mr.  Farnsworth  said  it  was  evident  that  they 
must  pass  the  bill,  or  else  pass  none,  and  if  Congress 
failed  to  pass  a  bill  to  protect  loyal  people  it  would  be 
justly  reprobated.     Mr.  .Schenck  said  that  "belie v-^ 
ing  every  motion  to  commit  this  bill,  to  amend  it, 


IN   CONGRESS.  369 

to  ask  for  a  committee  of  conference  upon  it, 
together  with  all  other  dilatory  motions  whatever, 
will  have  «no  effect  except  to  defeat  this  bill, 
whether  so  intended  or  not;  I  shall  oppose  every 
such  motion  and  aid  those  who  would  have  the 
House  come  at  once  to  a  direct  vote  upon  the  sub 
stitute  proposed  by  the  Senate." 

Mr.  Garfield  said,  "this  bill  starts  out  by  laying  its 
hands  on  the  rebel  governments  and  taking  the 
very  breath  of  life  out  of  them.  In  the  next  place 
it  puts  the  bayonet  at  the  breast  of  every  rebel  in 
the  South.  In  the  next  place,  it  leaves  in  the 
hands  of  Congress,  utterly  and  absolutely,  the  work 
of  reconstruction.  Gentlemen  here,  when  they 
have  the  power  of  a  thunderbolt  in  their  hands,  are 
afraid  of  themselves  and  propose  to  stagger  like 
idiots  under  the  weight  of  a  power  they  know  not 
how  to  use.  If  I  were  afraid  of  this  Congress, 
afraid  of  my  shadow,  afraid  of  myself,  I  would  de 
claim  against  this  bill,  and  I  would  do  it  just  as 
distinguished  gentlemen  around  me  have  done  and 
do  declaim  against  it.  They  have  spoken  vehe 
mently,  they  have  spoken  sepulchrally  against  it, 
but  they  have  not  done  us  the  favor  to  quote  a  line 
or  the  proof  of  a  single  word  from  the  bill  itself 
that  it  does  any  one  of  the  horrible  things  they  tell 
us  of." 

Mr.  Baker  was  in  favor  of  the  bill;  he  said,  "the 
obstinate  determination  of  the  defeated  insurgents 
to  control  the  destinies  of  ten  States,  to  reject  all 
24 


370  RECONSTRUCTION  MEASURES 

guarantees  of  national  safety,  to  select  unrepentant 
rebels  as  their  representative  men,  to  crush  out  the 
lives,  the  sentiments,  and  the  liberties  tff  men  loyal 
and  true  to  the  country,  to  make  loyalty  infamous 
and  treason  honorable  all  over  the  wide  region 
swept  by  the  rebellion,  thus  laying  anew,  broad  and 
deep,  the  foundations  of  future  and  bloody  discord 
in  the  Eepublic,  has,  in  the  march  of  time,  and  by 
the  inexorable  logic  of  necessity,  made  it  the  im 
perative  duty  of  the  Government  to  appeal  to  the 
great  democratic  principle  of  universal  suffrage,  by 
extending  the  ballot  to  every  disfranchised  loyalist 
in  the  rebel  States." 

Mr.  Thayer  saw  in  the  proposition  what  he  be 
lieved  would  be  regarded  by  the  deliberate  judg 
ment  of  the  American  people  as  ample  guarantees 
of  the  loyalty  and  obedience  of  the  South ;  every 
safeguard,  every  check,  and  every  guarantee  which 
it  was  proper  to  demand,  are  embraced  in  the  terms. 
Mr.  Kandall  moved  to  lay  the  bill  on  the  table ;  lost. 
Yeas  40,  nays  119  ;  the  previous  question  was  then 
ordered,  and  Mr.  Stevens  took  the  floor  to  close  the 
debate,  and  with  his  consent  Mr.  Hotchkiss,  Mr. 
Bromwell,  Mr.  Donnelly  and  Mr.  Higby  spoke  in  op 
position  to  the  bill  from  the  Senate,  and  Mr.  Le 
Blond  and  Mr.  Eldridge  spoke  in  opposition  to  all 
that  class  of  legislation.  Mr.  Delano  spoke  for  the 
bill  as  the  best  he  could  hope  for,  expect  or  obtain^ 
then.  An  arrangement  was  then  made  to  take  the 


IX   CONGRESS.  371 

vote  at  1 1  o'clock  next  day,  and  have  the  debate  go 
on  during  the  evening. 

Mr.  Woodbridge  said  the  bill  "secured  universal 
suffrage,"  that  "future  safety  of  the  country  demands 
all  these  guarantees,  and  if  they  are  accepted  by 
the  rebellious  States,  fraternity  will  follow  and  the 
future  of  the  South  will  be  as  bright  and  glorious 
as  her  past  has  been  wicked  and  oppressive."  Mr. 
Hise  opposed  the  entire  policy  of  Congress  and 
pronounced  the  measure  a  violation  of  the  Consti 
tution.  Mr.  Davis  was  in  favor  of  the  passage  of 
the  measure  because  the  exigencies  of  the  Republic 
and  duty  to  loyal  citizens  demanded  it.  Mr.  Loan 
was  opposed  to  its  passage.  Mr.  Banks  maintained 
that  military  tribunals  ought  not  to  be  established 
for  the  purpose  of  initiating  or  controlling  civil 
government.  Mr.  Hill  spoke  in  favor  of  the  bill, 
and  Mr.  Niblack  against  it.  Mr.  Davis  felt  compelled 
by  his  convictions  to  vote  to  concur  in  the  amend 
ment  of  the  Senate. 

Mr.  Ross  thought  the  Southern  loyalists  would 
pray  God  to  deliver  them  from  their  friends  if  that 
was  the  relief  proposed.  "This  amendment  of  the 
Senate,"  said  Mr.  McRuer, "  meets  my  hearty  appro 
bation."  Mr.  Henderson  regretted  that  he  could 
neither  vote  for  nor  oppose  the  bill,  and  Mr.  Miller 
maintained  that  sending  the  bill  to  the  committee 
of  conference  was  placing  it  at  the  mercy  of  the 
President.  Mr.  Finck  denied  the  constitutional 
power  to  pass  the  measure,  and  predicted  that  the 


372  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

attempt  at  reconstruction  would  fail.  Mr.  Cook 
spoke  for  the  bill.  Mr.  Lawrence  was  for  simply 
passing  an  act  for  the  protection  of  the  loyal  men 
of  the  South.,  who  stood  firm  amid  the  gloom  and 
darkness  and  storm  of  the  rebellion.  Mr.  Darling 
had  110  misgivings  and  no  fear  in  concurring  with 
the  Senate.  Mr.  Taylor  was  opposed  to  the  original 
bill  and  the  substitute.  Mr.  Arnell  could  not  sit  still 
and  fail  to  express  his  "horror  of  the  principle  that 
made  rebel  elections  the  basis  of  reconstruction." 

Mr.  Williams  said  the  bill  was  a  "  response  to  the 
cry  of  an  oppressed  and  bleeding  people.  It  went 
out  from  this  House,  the  Hall  of  the  people,  reflect 
ing,  as  it  must  always  do,  their  opinions  and  their 
will,  wielding  the  avenging  sword  of  justice  in  its 
hands;  and  it  comes  back  from  a  branch  of  the 
Legislature  which  is  not  intended  in  theory,  or  ex 
pected  in  fact,  to  answer  to  the  popular  breeze, 
until  it  has  blown  with  more  than  the  steadiness  of 
the  trade-winds  for  a  period  of  six  years — shorn  of 
its  menacing  features,  with  the  sword  sheathed,  and 
an  olive  branch  in  its  hands,  withdrawing  the  pro 
tection  we  had  offered  to  loyalty,  and  tendering  in 
its  stead  a  propitiatory  offering  to  treason.  We 
sent  to  the  Senate  a  proposition  to  meet  the  neces 
sities  of  the  hour,  which  was  protection  without 
reconstruction,  and  it  sends  back  another  which  is 
reconstruction  without  protection." 

Mr.  Grinnell  desired  to  sleep  over  the  matter,  and 
on  his  motion  the  House  adjourned.  On  the  19th 


IN   CONGRESS.  373 

the  House  proceeded  to  vote  and  refused  to  concur 
in  the  Senate  bill. — Yeas  73,  nays  98,  and  the 
motion  of  Mr.  Stevens  asking  for  a  committee  of 
conference  was  agreed  to.  Mr.  Stevens,  Mr.  Shella- 
barger  and  Mr.  Elaine  were  appointed  managers. 
In  the  Senate,  on  the  19th,  Mr.  Williams  moved  that 
the  Senate  agree  to  the  conference  asked  for ;  Mr. 
Conness  hoped  that  there  would  be  no  committee 
of  conference ;  the  question  transcended  in  im 
portance  any  other  ever  before  the  American  Con 
gress,  and  he  objected  to  confining  its  further 
discussion  to  the  narrow  special  embraces  of  a  con 
ference  committee,  of  three  members  from  each  body. 
Mr.  Williams  feared  sending  the  bill  back  to  the 
House  would  cause  its  defeat.  Mr.  Sumner  was  for  a 
committee  of  conference,  sending  it  back  to  the  House 
would  kill  it.  Mr.  Pomeroy  did  not  believe  the  bill 
would  become  a  law  that  session.  Mr.  Fessenden  did 
not  want  to  see  the  bill  lost  and  was  for  a  conference 
committee.  Mr.  Howard  was  not  willing  to  entrust 
a  measure  of  such  magnitude,  whose  influences  were 
to  be  so  vast  and  enduring,  to  such  a  committee.  Mr. 
Sherman  thought  it  best  for  the  Senate  to  stand  by 
its  deliberate  conviction,  and  give  the  House  another 
opportunity  to  reconsider  its  vote.  Mr.  Hendricks 
should  not  vote  for  the  committee.  Mr.  Lane 
thought  there  was  nothing  to  confer  about,  and  he 
should  vote  against  a  conference ;  and  Mr.  Wade 
thought  it  too  grave  a  matter  to  go  to  a  committee. 
An  earnest  and  somewhat  personal  debate  sprang  up, 
in  which  Mr.  Wade,  Mr.  Fessenden,  and  Mr.  Howard 


374  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

participated.  Mr.  Brown  was  opposed  to  a  conference 
committee,  and  Mr.  Williams  expressed  it  as  his  de 
liberate  opinion  that  the  Senate  ought  to  agree  to 
a  committee,  and  exhaust  every  legitimate  means 
to  procure  the  passage  of  the  bill.  He  had  pre 
pared  it,  and  when  he  prepared  it  he  thought  it  the 
true  policy  to  establish  a  military  power  in  the 
rebel  States  to  enforce  legislation. 

Mr.  Sherman  moved  that  the  Senate  insist  upon 
its  amendment.  Mr.  Trumbull  said  he  had  never 
regarded  the  bill  as  it  came  from  the  House,  called 
the  military  bill,  as  of  the  slightest  importance.  The 
laws  now  conferred  all  the  powers  in  the  House  bill. 
He  thought  the  amendment  put  upon  the  bill  by 
the  Senate  contained  every  guarantee  that  had  ever 
been  asked  for  by  any  one.  Never  should  such  a 
great  question  as  this,  open  in  all  its  parts,  be  by 
him  submitted  to  a  committee  of  conference.  Mr. 
Sumner  again  advocated  a  conference  committee, 
and  Mr.  Sherman  expressed  the  opinion  that  if  the 
bill  was  sent  back  to  the  House,  it  would  be  slight 
ly  amended  and  passed  before  ten  o'clock  that  night. 
Mr.  Sumner's  information  led  him  to  the  belief  that 
the  bill  would  be  lost.  He  said  the  bill  was  very 
defective,  horridly  defective,  rarely  had  good  and 
evil  been  mixed  on  such  a  scale.  He  rejoiced  that 
the  House  had  given  the  Senate  an  opportunity  to 
reconsider  its  action  and  amend  the  bill.  Mr.  Sher 
man  said  that  the  Senator  had  stated  for  the  first 
time  his  opposition  to  the  measure.  "The  Senator," 


IN   CONGRESS.  375 

replied  Mr.  Simmer,  "was  not  present  when  I  de 
nounced  the  amendment  more  severely  than  I  have 
to-day."  "The  Senator,"  replied  Mr.  Sherman,, 
"two  nights  ago  expressed  his  decided  opposition 
to  the  Elaine  amendment ;  but  it  must  be  remem 
bered  that  since  this  substitute  was  introduced,, 
after  careful  consideration  by  the  Senator  from 
Massachusetts,  as  well  as  others,  he  contented  him 
self  with  remaining  in  his  seat  in  silence,  without 
expressing  the  least  opposition  to  it.  It  may  not 
be  improper  for  me  to  say  that  at  an  early  hour  he 
left  and  went  home,  leaving  the  friends  of  the 
measure  to  pass  it  without  his  vote  and  ignorant 
of  his  opposition,  at  least  from  any  expression  of 
his  in  the  Senate.  He  now  states  that  the  ground' 
of  his  opposition  is  that  the  bill  does  not  disfran 
chise  the  whole  rebel  population  of  the  Southern 
States." 

Mr.  Sumner  said  he  took  no  such  ground ;  the 
bill  did  not  provide  proper  safeguards  against  the 
rebel  population  ;  he  did  not  open  the  question  how 
far  disfranchisement  should  go.  Mr.  Sherman  said 
that  no  proposition  would  pass  Congress  that  dis 
franchised  the  white  population  with  few  excep 
tions,  and  placed  power  in  ten  States  in  the  hands 
of  ignorant  emancipated  freedmen ;  the  people 
would  have  "neither  white  nor  black  oligarchies.'* 
Mr.  Wilson  expressed  the  hope  that  the  debate 
would  cease,  that  the  bill  might  be  sent  back  to  the 
House,  "in  the  hope  that  it  will  there  be  passed 


376  RECONSTRUCTION  MEASURES 

either  as  it  now  stands  or  amended  in  such  a  way 
that  we  can  concur,  and  that  thus  this  great  and 
grand  measure,  the  greatest  by  far  of  the  measures 
of  the  session,  if  not  of  any  session  we  have  ever 
had,  may  become  the  law  of  the  land."  After  fur 
ther  debate  by  Mr.  Cowan,  Mr.  Doolittle,  Mr.  Wil 
liams,  Mr.  Fowler,  Mr.  Saulsbury,  Mr.  Trumbull  and 
Mr.  McDougall,  the  Senate  insisted  on  its  amend 
ment,  and  the  bill  was  returned  to  the  House. 

In  the  House  on  the  same  day  Mr.  Wilson  moved 
that  the  House  concur  in  the  Senate  substitute, 
with  an  amendment  providing :  "That  no  person  ex 
cluded  from  the  privilege  of  holding  office  by  said 
proposed  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  shall  be  eligible  as  a  member  of  a 
convention  to  frame  a  constitution  for  any  of  said 
rebel  States,  nor  shall  any  such  person  vote  for  mem 
bers  of  such  convention.17 

Mr,  Eldridge  moved  to  lay  the  amendment  on  the 
table. — Yeas  27,  nays  108.  Mr.  Eldridge  moved  that 
when  the  House  adjourn  it  be  to  meet  on  Thurs 
day — lost. — Yeas  27,  nays  110.  Mr.  Finck  moved 
that  when  the  House  adjourn  it  be  to  meet  on  Fri 
day — lost. — Yeas  24,  nays  111.  After  other  dila 
tory  action  the  House  adjourned  with  an  under 
standing  that  the  vote  should  be  taken  on  meeting 
.the  next  day. 

On  the  20th  Mr.  Shellabarger  moved  to  amend 
Mr.  Wilson's  amendment  by  adding:  "That  until 
the  people  of  said  rebel  States  shall  be  admitted  to 


IN    CONGRESS.  377 

representation  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
any  civil  governments  which  may  exist  therein  shall 
be  deemed  provisional  only,  and  in  all  respects  sub 
ject  to  the  paramount  authority  of  the  United 
States,  at  any  time  to  abolish,  modify,  control,  or 
supercede  the  same.  And  in  all  elections  to  any 
office  under  such  provisional  governments,  all  per 
sons  shall  be  entitled  to  vote,  and  none  others,  who 
are  entitled  to  vote  under  the  provisions  of  the  fifth 
section  of  this  act ;  and  no  person  shall  be  eligible 
to  any  office  under  any  such  provisional  govern 
ment  who  shall  be  disqualified  from  holding  office 
under  the  provisions  of  the  third  article  of  said  Con 
stitutional  amendment."  The  amendment  was 
agreed  to. — Yeas  99,  nays  70.  The  question  then 
recurred  on  concurring  in  the  Senate  substitute 
with  Mr.  Wilson's  amendment  as  amended  by  Mr. 
Shellabarger,  and  it  was  agreed  to. — Yeas  126, 
nays  46. 

On  the  same  day  the  Senate,  on  motion  of  Mr. 
Williams,  proceeded  to  the  consideration  of  the 
House  amendment.  Mr.  Sherman  said  he  was 
perfectly  willing  to  agree  to  the  amendment.  Mr. 
Sumner  thanked  God  that  §  the  other  House  had 
given  the  safeguards  required.  "For  rebels  back 
seats"  until  the  great  work  of  reconstruction  was 
achieved.  Mr.  Stewart  thought  no  man  in  the 
South  had  the  least  right  to  complain  of  the  bill. 
"It  frankly  says  to  the  country  that  we  have  a  plan 
of  reconstruction,  an  honest,  independent  plan,  in 


378  RECONSTRUCTION  MEASURES 

which  all  can  see  light,  in  which  all  can  see  justice, 
in  which  all  can  see  mercy."  He  congratulated 
Mr.  Simmer  that  he  was  willing  to  extend  the  right 
of  suffrage,  the  ballot,  to  the  great  mass  of  the  peo 
ple  of  the  South ;  that  he  was  satisfied  with  having 
only  a  few  of  the  leaders  excluded  from  that  bless 
ed  privilege.  Mr.  Sumner  should  insist  upon  greater 
safeguards  than  any  that  were  supplied  in  that 
"very  hasty  and  crude  act  of  legislation."  "I  accept 
it,"  he  said,  "for  what  it  is  worth,  as  containing 
much  that  is  good,  some  things  infinitely  good,  but 
as  coming  far  short  of  what  a  patriotic  Congress 
ought  to  supply  for  the  safety  of  the  Republic." 

Mr.  Wilson  said  that  grand  as  had  been  all  the 
measures  of  patriotism  and  liberty,  justice  and  hu 
manity,  he  deemed  that  great  measure  the  grandest 
of  all  the  series  of  acts  that  had  saved  the  Eepub- 
lic.  He  thought  it  was  the  highest  duty  of  Con 
gress  to  turn  out  every  rebel  who  held  office  in  the 
rebel  States ;  but  he  had  little  faith  in  excluding 
men  from  suffrage.  "I  have  fought,"  he  said,  "the 
battle  of  enfranchisement  with  all  my  heart.  I  be 
lieve  in  manhood  suffrage  for  man,  without  distinc 
tion  of  color  or  race  or  property  or  education.  I 
believe  that  the  poorer  a  man  is,  the  more  he  needs 
the  ballot  to  protect  himself  and  maintain  his  man 
hood  in  this  democratic  Republic.  I  am  a  demo 
cratic  Democrat  on  suffrage  and  the  rights  of  man. 
I  have  fought  the  battle  of  enfranchisement :  I  can 
never  fight  the  battle  of  disfranchisement.  It  is 


IS   CONGRESS.  379 

with  the  deepest  regret  that  I  consent  as  a  necessity 
for  a  great  purpose  to  disfranchise  any  human  be 
ing  even  for  a  moment.  I  vote  for  this  great  meas 
ure  heartily,  but  I  should  vote  for  it  more  joyously 
if  no  human  being  on  earth  was  disfranchised  by  it." 

Mr.  Johnson  said  that  every  American  heart 
should  be  animated  by  generosity,  magnanimity 
and  charity  for  the  men  engaged  in  the  rebellion. 

Mr.  Hendricks  thought  experience  had  shown 
that  the  difficulty  in  the  way  of  the  adoption  of 
the  Constitutional  amendment  was  that  provision 
which  required  the  Southern  people  to  do  what  they 
considered  a  dishonorable  act:  the  disqualification 
of  their  leaders.  Mr.  Buckalew  thought  the  House 
amendment,  instead  of  disfranchising  six  thousand, 
disqualified  sixty  thousand  ;  and  the  sweeping  and 
prescriptive  character  of  the  amendment,  and  the 
delusive  character  of  the  whole  measure,  made  it 
an  act  of  duty  to  vote  against  concurring  in  the 
amendments  of  the  House. 

Mr.  Cowan  had  been  uniformly  against  all  pro 
jects.  Exclusion  meant  "higher  and  higher  in  the 
direction  of  barbarism ;  higher  and  higher  in  the 
direction  of  stupidity,  ignorance  and  folly ;  higher 
and  higher  in  the  direction  of  negroes  instead  of 
the  more  intelligent  white  men."  Mr.  Howe  said 
that  he  had  more  than  a  year  ago  "tried  to  persuade 
the  Senate  that  these  organizations  which  had  been 
manufactured  mainly  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  and  were  strutting  in  the  character  of  State 


380  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

governments,  down  between  the  Potomac  and  the 
Gulf,  are  illegal  and  unauthorized  in  point  of  law ; 
and  then  I  tried  to  persuade  the  Senate  that  they 
did  not  answer  the  purposes  of  a  government  at  all 
since  they  did  not  furnish  protection  to  life  or  liber 
ty  or  property,  which  I  understand  to  be  the  legiti 
mate  purposes  of  governments."  Having  declared 
that  the  rebel  governments  were  both  null  in  law 
and  criminal  in  conduct,  he  said  :  "  I  think  the  legit 
imate  conclusion  is,  that  they  ought  to  be  passed 
aside,  turned  into  the  abyss  of  things  which  were  ; 
ought  to  be  dispensed  with  altogether;  that  we 
ought  not  to  employ  them  nor  suffer  them  to  be 
employed  in  the  work  of  government.  I  would 
organize  provisional  governments  in  their  stead ; 
civil  tribunals  to  some  extent,  responsible  to  the 
people." 

Mr.  Doolittle  moved  to  amend  the  bill  so  as  to 
provide,  "that  nothing  in  this  act  contained,  shall 
be  construed  to  disfranchise  any  persons  in  either 
of  the  said  States,  from  voting  or  holding  office,  who 
have  received  pardon  and  amnesty  in  accordance 
with  the  Constitution  and  the  laws."  This  amend 
ment  was  advocated  by  Mr.  Doolittle,  Mr.  Hen- 
dricks,  Mr.  Buckalew  and  Mr.  McDougall,  and  op 
posed  by  Messrs.  Edmunds,  Stewart,  Cragin  and 
Sherman,  and  rejected. — Yeas  8,  nays  33. 

Mr.  Henderson  confessed  he  was  not  satisfied 
with  the  measure ;  reluctantly  he  came  to  its  sup 
port  5  he  might  vote  for  it,  but  it  had  not  his  cor- 


IN   CONGRESS  381 

dial  assent.  Mr.  Wilson  then  moved  to  amend  the 
sixth  section  of  the  House  amendment  by  adding  : 
"And  all  offices  now  held  under  the  assumed  au 
thority  of  the  rebel  State  governments  shall  be 
vacated  within  ninety  days  after  the  passage  of  this 
act ;  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  commanding 
officer  of  each  military  district  to  enforce  this  pro 
vision."  The  amendment  was  rejected.  On  motion 
of  Mr.  Edmunds  the  yeas  and  nays  were  ordered 
and  the  Senate  concurred  in  the  House  amend 
ments. — Yeas  35,  nays  7. 

In  the  House,  on  the  2d  of  March,  the  message 
of  the  President  was  received,  giving  his  reasons  for 
not  signing  the  bill.  The  House  on  motion  of  Mr. 
Stevens  proceeded  to  the  consideration  of  the  ques 
tion.  Mr.  Eldridge  said:  "The  minority  of  this 
House  are  profoundly  sensible  that  our  official  duty, 
the  best  interest  of  our  common  country  w^ould  re 
quire  us,  if  it  were  within  our  physical  power,  to 
defeat  this  bill ;  but  we  are  equally  conscious  that 
no  effort  of  ours  can  prevent  its  passage  and  the 
consequent  accomplishment  of  what,  as  w^e  think, 
it  contemplates,  a  dissolution  of  the  Union  and  the 
overthrow  and  abandonment  of  our  Constitution  of 
Government.  We  would  most  assuredly  stop  it  if 
we  could ;  but  as  we  understand  the  views  of  the 
Speaker  and  the  majority  of  this  House  of  its  rules, 
we  have  no  power  to  resist  their  purposes  and  num 
bers.  We  can  only,  in  the  name  of  the  Constitu 
tion,  in  the  name  of  the  Republic,  in  the  name  of 


382  BECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

all  we  hold  dear  on  earth,  earnestly,  solemnly,  pro 
test  against  this  action  of  this  Congress." 

"As  one  member  of  this  side  of  the  House/'  said 
Mr.  Le  Blond,  "believing  as  I  do,  and  as  I  have  ex 
pressed  myself  upon  a  former  occasion,  that  the 
passage  of  this  bill  would  be  the  death-knell  of  re 
publican  liberty  upon  this  continent,  I  have  but  few 
words  to  say.  I  say  to  gentlemen  upon  the  other 
side,  and  I  say  it  plainly  and  frankly,  that  if  I  had 
assurance  now  that  a  sufficient  number  on  this  side 
of  the  House  would  stand  with  me  until  the  end  of 
this  session  to  resist  the  passage  of  this  bill,  it  never, 
never  should  become  a  law." 

"For  my  own  part,"  said  Mr.  Boyer,  "I  desire  to 
say  that  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  employ  all  means 
within  my  power  to  defeat  this  bill ;  and  I  am  will 
ing  to  join  those  on  this  side  of  the  House  in  order 
to  effect  that  end  by  any  legitimate  means  within 
our  power." 

Mr.  Finck  proposed  now  as  he  had  done,  "to 
stand  firmly  by  the  opponents  of  this  measure,  and 
aid  by  every  legitimate  and  parliamentary  effort 
which  may  be  employed  to  defeat  this  monstrous 
scheme  to  subvert  Constitutional  Government  in 
this  country." 

Mr.  Stevens  said:  "I  have  listened  with  patience 
to  gentlemen.  I  would  not  be  discourteous  to  any 
of  them,  for  I  am  aware  of  the  melancholy  feelings 
with  which  they  are  approaching  this  funeral  of  the 
nation.  [Laughter.]  I  find  there  is  difference  of 


IN    CONGRESS.  383 

opinion  among  the  mourners  to  an  extent  which  we 
cannot  expect  to  harmonize.  I  do  not  desire  to 
lose  the  opportunity  to  pass  the  bill  at  once  and 
send  it  to  the  Senate,  and  to  proceed  to  other  mat 
ters." 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Elaine  the  House  suspended 
the  rules  and  proceeded  to  vote  on  the  passage  of 
the  bill ;  the  objections  of  the  President  to  the  con 
trary.  The  Yeas  were  135,  the  Nays  were  48. 
The  Speaker  said  on  the  question  :  "Will  the 
House,  on  reconsideration,  agree  to  the  passage  of 
an  act  to  provide  for  the  more  efficient  govern 
ment  of  the  rebel  States,  the  objections  of  the 
President  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding — the 
yeas  are  135,  and  the  nays  48;  so  (two-thirds  hav 
ing  voted  in  the  affirmative,)  the  bill  has  again 
passed  the  House."  This  announcement  was  greet 
ed  with  enthusiastic  applause  on  the  floor  of  the 
House  and  in  the  crowded  galleries. 

On  the  same  day  the  message  was  read  in  the 
Senate.  Mr.  Johnson  regretted  that  the  President 
had  felt  himself  compelled  to  withhold  his  signa 
ture  to  the  bill,  and  he  also  regretted  the  tone  which 
the  message  assumes  in  portions  of  it.  He  an 
nounced  his  purpose  to  vote  for  the  measure,  the 
objection  of  the  President  to  the  contrary  notwith 
standing.  Mr.  Saulsbury  could  not  refrain  from 
"the  expression  of  the  hope  that  there  is  no  man, 
and  that  there  may  be  no  man  within  the  limits  of 
these  ten  States,  who  will  participate  in  his  own  dis- 


384  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

grace,   degradation,  and  ruin;  let  them  maintain 
their  honor." 

Mr.  Hendricks  said  his  judgment  against  it  had 
been  "fortified  and  strengthened  by  that  able  docu 
ment."  Mr.  Buckalew  and  Mr.  Davis  replied  to 
some  of  the  points  of  Mr.  Johnson's  speech.  The 
question  was  then  taken  on  passing  the  bill  over 
the  President's  veto,  and  it  was  so  passed. — Yeas 
3 8,  nays  10.  The  President  of  the  Senate  then  an 
nounced  that  the  bill  had  become  a  law  without  the 
signature  of  the  President ;  and  the  announcement 
was  received  with  applause  in  the  galleries. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

TO  FACILITATE  RESTORATION. 

Mr.  Wilson's  bill  to  facilitate  Restoration. — Referred  to  Committee  on  the 
Judiciary. — Mr.  Sumner's  resolution. — Mr.  Kelley's  resolution. — Report 
of  Mr.  Wilson  of  Iowa. — Motion  to  recommit  to  the  Committee  on  the 
Judiciary. — Passage  of  the  Bill. — Senate — Speech  of  Mr.  Trumbull,  Mr. 
Drake,  Mr.  Fessenden. — Mr.  Drake's  amendment. — Speech  of  Mr.  Wil 
son. — Mr.  Fessendcn's  amendment. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Wilson,  Mr.  Fre- 
linghuysen,  Mr.  Nye. — Mr.  Howe's  amendment.— Mr.  Howard's  amend 
ment. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Morrill. — Mr.  Sumner's  amendment. — Mr.  Nor 
ton's  amendment. — Mr.  Wilson's  amendment. — Mr.  Edmunds'  amend 
ment. — Mr.  Howard's  amendment. — Mr.  Sumner's  amendment. — Remarks 
of  Mr.  Sumner,  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  Mr.  Stewart. — Passage  of  the  Bill. — 
House — Remarks  of  Mr.  Wilson. — House  amendment  cqnsidered  in  the 
Senate. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Wilson,  Mr.  Johnson,  Mr.  Drake,  Mr.  Norton 
and  Mr.  Edmunds. — House — Committee  of  Conference. — Report  concur 
red  in. — The  President's  Veto. — Passage  of  the  Bill. 

IN  the  Senate  on  the  7th  of  March,  1867,  Mr. 
Wilson  of  Massachusetts  introduced  a  bill  supple 
mentary  to  an  act  entitled  "An  Act  to  provide  for 
the  more  efficient  government  of  the  rebel  States 
and  to  facilitate  restoration/'  which  was  read  twice 
and  referred  to  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary. 
This  bill  was  intended  to  provide  the  machinery  for 
carrying  into  effect  the  law  for  the  more  efficient 
government  of  the  rebel  States.  When  that  law 
25  ** 


386  RECONSTRUCTION     MEASURES 

was  passed,  it  was  admitted  in  both  Houses  of  Con 
gress  that  it  was  incomplete  ;  that  further  legisla 
tion  would  be  necessary  to  put  it  in  practical  opera 
tion.  To  put  the  act  to  provide  for  the  more  effi 
cient  government  of  the  rebel  States  into  operation, 
and  to  facilitate  the  restoration  of  those  States,  the 
bill  introduced  by  Mr.  Wilson  had  been  carefully 
prepared.  It  was  drawn  up  in  substance  by  Chief 
Justice  Chase,  modified  and  changed  by  Mr.  Wilson 
in  consultation  with  others.  It  provided,  first : 

"That  the  commanding  general  in  each  district  de 
fined  by  the  act  entitled  c  An  act  to  provide  for  the 
more  efficient  government  of  the  rebel  States/ 
should  cause  a  registration  to  be  made  before  the 
first  day  of  September,  in  each  county  or  parish  in 
his  district,  of  the  male  citizens  twenty-one  years  of 
age  and  upwards,  which  registration  should  include 
only  those  persons  qualified  to  vote  for  delegates 
by  the  'act  to  provide  for  the  more  efficient  gov 
ernment  of  the  rebel  States/  and  who  should  have 
taken  and  subscribed  the  following  oath  or  affirma 
tion  :  'I, ,  of ,  in  the  county  or  parish 

of ,  in  the  State  of ,  do  hereby  solemn 
ly  swear  (or  affirm)  that  I  am  sincerely  and  ear 
nestly  attached  to  the  Union  and  government  of  the 
United  States,  that  I  will  steadfastly  support  the 
Constitution  and  obey  the  laws  of  the  United 
States,  and  that  I  will,  to  the  best  of  my  ability, 
engage  all  others  to  such  support  and  obedience,  so 
help  me  God.' 


IN    CONGRESS.  387 

That  whenever  the  registration  should  be  com 
pleted,  the  commanding  general  should  cause  to  be 
held  in  each  State  of  his  district,  on  a  day  not  less 
than  thirty  days  from  the  date  of  proclamation,  an 
election  of  delegates  to  a  convention  for  the  pur 
pose  of  amending  the  existing  or  framing  a  new 
constitution,  and  of  firmly  re-establishing  a  civil 
government  loyal  to  the  Union,  and  of  passing  all 
needful  ordinances  for  putting  the  constitution  and 
government  into  operation. 

That  the  conventions  provided  for  should  be 
called  on  the  basis  of  the  representation  of  the 
house  of  representatives  of  each  State. 

That  the  commanding  general  of  each  district 
should  appoint  such  loyal  officers  or  persons  as 
might  be  necessary  to  make  the  registration,  to  pre 
side  at  the  election,  to  receive,  sort,  and  count,  and 
to  make  return  to  him  of  the  votes  and  of  the  per 
sons  elected  as  delegates ;  and  upon  receiving  said 
returns  he  should  ascertain  the  persons  elected  as 
delegates,  and  make  proclamation,  and  within  sixty 
days  from  the  date  of  election  notify  the  delegates 
to  assemble  to  proceed  to  the  organization  of  a  con 
vention  ;  and  when  the  convention  should  have 
amended  the  existing  constitution  or  framed  a  new 
constitution  in  accordance  with  the  '  Act  to  provide 
for  the  more  efficient  government  of  the  rebel 
States/  said  constitution  should  be  submitted  by 
the  convention  to  the  persons  registered,  at  an  elec- 


388  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

tion  to  be  held  after  the  expiration  of  thirty  clays 
from  date  of  notice  given  by  the  convention. 

That  if  the  said  constitution  should  be  ratified  by 
a  majority  of  the  votes  of  the  qualified  electors, 
the  president  of  the  convention  should  transmit  a 
copy,  duly  certified,  to  the  President,  who  should 
transmit  the  same  to  Congress ;  and  if  the  said  con 
stitution  should  be  declared  by  Congress  to  be  in 
conformity  with  the  fifth  section  of  the  act  entitled 
'An  act  to  provide  for  the  more  efficient  govern 
ment  of  the  rebel  States/  and  the  other  provisions 
of  said  act  should  have  been  complied  with,  the 
State  should  be  entitled  to  representation,  and  sen 
ators  and  representatives  should  be  admitted  there 
from. 

That  the  duties  imposed  upon  the  commanding 
general  of  each  district,  and  the  powers  conferred, 
might,  with  his  consent,  be  performed  by  the  acting 
governor  of  any  State,  who  should  take  an  oath  or 
affirmation  faithfully  to  keep  and  perform  the  same." 

On  the  7th,  Mr.  Sumner  of  Massachusetts  intro 
duced  resolutions  declaring  certain  farther  guaran 
tees  required  in  the  reconstruction  of  the  rebel 
States.  They  declared  that  it  was  the  duty  of  Con 
gress  to  see  that  the  existing  governments  should 
be  vacated,  so  that  rebels  should  have  no  agency  in 
the  work  of  reconstruction ;  that  provisional  gov 
ernments  should  be  constituted  as  temporary  sub 
stitutes  for  the  illegal  governments ;  that  loyalty 
beyond  suspicion  should  be  the  basis  of  permanent 


IN   CONGRESS.  389 

governments,  republican  in  form ;  that  public 
schools  must  be  established  for  the  equal  good  of 
all,  and  homesteads  secured  to  the  freedmen.  Mr. 
Johnson  of  Maryland  objected  to  the  consideration 
of  the  resolutions  at  that  time. 

In  the  House  of  Bepresentatives  on  the  7th,  Mr. 
Kelley  of  Pennsylvania  introduced  a  resolution  in 
structing  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary  to  report 
a  bill  declaring  who  should  call  conventions  for  the 
reorganization  of  the  rebel  States,  and  providing 
for  the  registration  of  voters ;  and  all  elections  for 
members  of  said  conventions,  or  for  the  adoption 
or  rejection  of  constitutions,  or  for  the  choice  of 
public  officers,  until  the  constitutions  of  said  States 
should  have  been  approved  by  Congress,  should  be 
by  ballot.  The  resolution  was  adopted. — Yeas  114, 
nays  33. 

On  the  llth,  Mr.  Sumner  called  up  his  resolutions 
declaring  further  guarantees  required  in  the  recon 
struction  of  the  rebel  States,  and  Mr.  Williams  of 
Oregon  moved  their  reference  to  the  Committee 
on  the  Judiciary.  After  debate,  in  which  Mr.  Sum 
ner,  Mr.  Fessenden,  Mr.  Trumbull,  Mr.  Dixon,  Mr. 
Sherman,  Mr.  Johnson,  Mr.  Frelinghuysen  and  Mr. 
Howard  participated,  the  Senate  on  motion  of  Mr. 
Frelinghuysen,  by  a  vote  of  36  to  10,  ordered  the 
resolutions  to  lie  on  the  table.  These  resolutions 
were  called  up  on  the  12th,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Mor 
ton  of  Indiana,  and  further  debated  by  him  and  Mr. 
Howe  of  Wisconsin. 


390  RECONSTRUCTION  MEASURES 

In  the  House  of  Representatives  on  the  llth,  Mr. 
Wilson  of  Iowa,  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  the 
Judiciary,  reported  a  bill  "  supplementary  to  an  act 
entitled  'An  act  to  provide  for  the  more  efficient 
government  of  the  rebel  States'  passed  March  2d, 
1867,  and  to  facilitate  restoration."  This  was  the 
bill,  with  some  modifications,  introduced  in  the 
Senate  on  the  7th  by  Mr.  Wilson  of  Massachusetts. 
Mr.  Wood  of  New  York  said  the  bill  contained 
principles  which  no  true  Republican  could  assent  to. 
It  was  an  effort  to  take  away  all  existing  civil 
power  in  those  States,  and  to  give  it  entirely  into 
the  hands  of  the  military  governors. 

Mr.  Wilson  replied  that  the  bill  did  not  conflict  in 
the  least  with  the  act  to  provide  for  the  more  efficient 
government  of  the  rebel  States,  passed  by  the  39th 
Congress.  Instead  of  being  a  bill  to  fix  upon  the 
people  of  the  rebel  States  a  military  government,  it 
provided  the  machinery  whereby  the  people  of  the 
rebel  States  might  get  from  under  the  military 
governments  already  established.  Mr.  Elaine  of 
Maine  inquired  if  the  bill  was  not  designed  expressly 
and  unqualifiedly  to  give  everybody  entitled  to  vote 
an  equal  start  in  the  election.  Mr.  Wilson  replied 
that  such  certainly  was  the  purpose  of  the  bill.  He 
said  the  bill  was  intended  to  come  in  aid  of  the  leg 
islation  of  the  last  Congress.  The  bill  of  the  2d  of 
March  was  imperfect  in  its  provisions,  as  it  provided 
no  machinery  for  carrying  its  provisions  into  effect. 
Mr.  Wood  inquired  if  the  bill  did  not  give  the  mill- 


IN    CONGRESS.  391 

tary  commander  power  to  compel  an  organization. 
Mr.  Wilson  replied  that  it  did  compel  the  military 
commander  to  proceed  with  registration — compelled 
him  to  order  an  election  for  delegates,  compelled 
him  to  provide  for  the  holding  of  a  constitutional 
convention,  but  the  results  of  the  labors  of  the  con 
vention  were  to  be  submitted  to  the  vote  of  the 
people.  Mr.  Bingham  suggested  that  the  bill  should 
be  so  amended  as  to  require  a  majority  of  the  votes 
given  at  an  election  instead  of  a  majority  of  the 
votes  registered. 

Mr.  Boutwell  of  Massachusetts,  a  member  of  the 
Committee  on  the  Judiciary,  objected  to  Mr.  Bing- 
ham's  amendment.  The  people  of  those  States 
were  disloyal  to  the  government :  a  majority  ought 
to  be  required  to  assent  to  the  work  done  by  the 
conventions.  Mr.  Wilson  opposed  Mr.  Bingham's 
amendment.  Mr.  Marshall  of  Illinois,  a  member  of 
the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary,  said  the  bill  for  the 
more  efficient  government  of  the  rebel  States  re 
quired  only  a  majority  of  the  votes  given ;  this  re 
quired  a  majority  of  the  votes  registered.  He  sup 
posed  the  legislation  of  the  last  Congress  was 
adopted  after  mature  deliberation,  and  it  looked  like 
trifling  to  be  changing  ground  every  day  upon  a 
subject  so  vital  to  the  interests  of  the  whole  country. 
Mr.  Marshall  said  he  had  no  doubt  the  majority  in 
Congress  would  prefer  the  negro's  to  the  white  man's 
government ;  he  could  not  give  his  vote  for  that  or 
for  any  kindred  measure.  He  regarded  the  whole 


392  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

legislation  as  clearly  unconstitutional,  as  establishing 
precedents  which  would  lead  to  the  subversion  of 
the  country.  Mr.  Wilson  replied  that  on  the  ques 
tion  of  power  he  should  accept  the  determination 
of  the  39th  Congress.  We  were  seeking  by  this 
legislation,  merely  to  aid  the  people  of  the  rebel 
States  in  the  organization  of  governments  which 
should  secure  the  rights  of  all  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States.  Mr.  Eldridge  of  Wisconsin  could  no 
more  vote  for  the  bill  than  he  could  have  voted  for 
the  bill  passed  by  the  39th  Congress-  the  provisions 
of  both  bills  were  in  open  and  flagrant  violation  of 
the  Constitution,  and  a  most  wicked  subversion  of 
the  liberties  they  were  intended  to  secure.  "  These 
measures"  he  said  "are  to  be  enforced  upon  the 
Southern  people  for  the  purpose  of  building  up  a 
radical  party  there,  a  party  that  will  support  the 
measures  and  policy  of  this  fanatical  Congress. 

Mr.  Butler  of  Massachusetts  desired  to  submit  a 
motion  to  have  the  bill  recommitted  to  the  Com 
mittee  on  the  Judiciary,  with  instructions  to  strike 
out  the  provisions  requiring  the  military  command 
ers  to  do  the  work  in  a  given  time.  Some  States 
were  in  a  better  condition  than  others,  and  he  was 
opposed  to  the  establishment  of  an  iron  rule  which 
would  enable  some  States  to  come  back  before  they 
were  in  a  proper  condition  to  do  so.  Mr.  Wood 
moved  that  the  bill  be  laid  upon  the  table. — Yeas 
27,  nays  115.  Mr.  Bingham's  amendment  requiring 
only  a  majority  of  the  votes  given  instead  of  a 


IN    CONGRESS.  393 

majority  of  the  votes  registered  was  then  rejected. 
The  previous  question  was  then  ordered  on  motion  of 
Mr.  Wilson,  and  the  bill  passed. — Yeas  117,,  nays  27. 
The  Senate  on  the  14th,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Trum 
bull,  proceeded  to  the  consideration  of  the  House 
bill  to  facilitate  the  restoration  of  the  rebel  States. 
Mr.  Trumbull  said  that  the  Committee  on  the 
Judiciary  had  prepared  an  amendment  as  a  substi 
tute  for  the  House  bill.  Mr.  Drake  of  Missouri 
moved  to  amend  the  bill  by  inserting  in  the  second 
section  a  provision  requiring  that  the  registered 
voters  of  each  State  should  vote  for  or  against  a 
convention  to  form  a  constitution  therefor  under  the 
act ;  that  if  a  majority  voted  for  the  convention  it 
should  be  held,  but  if  a  majority  voted  against  a 
convention,  it  should  not  be  held.  He  thought  the 
provision  in  the  bill  which  authorized  the  members 
elected  to  the  convention  to  declare  the  wish  of  the 
people,  unwise.  He  was  in  favor  of  having  the 
people,  instead  of  the  delegates,  express  the  wishes 
of  the  people  of  the  State  in  regard  to  framing  a 
constitution  under  the  provisions  of  the  act,  Mr. 
Trumbull  said  the  work  of  the  convention  itself 
when  it  was  complete  was  to  be  passed  upon  by  the 
registered  voters,  and  unless  a  majority  of  the  voters 
registered,  whether  they  voted  or  not,  were  in  favor 
of  the  constitution,  it  could  not  be  adopted,  therefore 
it  could  not  be  pretended  that  a  government  was  to 
be  forced  upon  any  State.  Mr.  Drake  expressed 
his  surprise  at  the  opposition  of  the  chairman  of  the 


394  KECONSTRUCTION  MEASURES 

committee.  "I  need  not/'  he  said,  "tell  that  gentle 
man  who  has  sat  here  so  long  in  this  Senate  Chamber, 
and  all  through  the  period  of  the  late  rebellion,  that 
in  the  States  for  which  we  are  now  proposing  the 
means  of  forming  constitutions  there  are  men  who 
will  betray  that  people  at  any  instant  that  it  may 
subserve  their  own  private  interests  to  do  so,  and 
who  might  be  elected  as  delegates  to  the  convention 
with  a  pledge  that  they  would  go  for  the  formation 
of  a  State  government,  and  then  under  influences 
which  might  be  brought  to  bear  upon  them  turn 
round  and  defeat  the  will  of  the  loyal  people  of 
those  States.  Sir,  the  history  of  the  last  six  years 
in  that  southern  region  is  but  one  continued  history 
of  treachery  such  as  the  world  never  saw." 

Mr.  Frelinghuysen  did  not  see  that  the  amend 
ment  was  essential.  The  people  of  each  State  must 
trust  their  delegates  to  frame  their  constitution. 
The  security  was  that  a  majority  of  all  the  votes 
registered  must  sanction  it.  Mr.  Howard  of  Michi 
gan  was  in  favor  of  Mr.  Drake's  amendment;  he 
was  in  favor  of  having  the  governments  of  the  rebel 
States,  when  established,  originate  with  the  people, 
and  receive  the  sanction  of  the  people  themselves. 
Mr.  Fessenden  had  no  objection  to  vote  for  the 
amendment  if  he  could  not  obtain  anything  better. 
"I  do  not,"  he  said,  "want  them  to  be  at  liberty  to 
say  in  consequence  of  our  action  afterward  they 
did  not  want  to  come  back,  that  they  did  not  mean 
to  come  back,  that  they  preferred  to  be  independent, 


IN   CONGRESS.  395 

that  they  wished  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  us,  or 
that  they  desired  to  keep  out  and  have  as  little  to 
do  with  us  as  possible,  as  they  may  say  if  we  take 
this  course  of  proceeding.  I  do  not  want  to  have 
that  lie  in  their  mouths,  that  they  wished  to  con 
tinue  independent,  but  were  not  only  invited  back, 
but  forced  back  by  our  action.  Therefore,  sir,  my 
mode  would  be  in  this  matter  to  provide  that  before 
any  action  whatever  upon  the  subject  of  a  conven 
tion  to  form  a  State  constitution  and  establish  a  State 
government,  there  should  be  the  registration  that 
is  provided  for  by  this  bill,  complete  and  thorough, 
and  that  when  that  registration  was  perfected  a 
copy  of  it  should  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  pro 
visional  government  of  the  State,  which  we  have 
recognized  as  provisional  government;  and  then 
when  the  provisional  government,  elected  by  the 
people  of  a  State,  by  solemn  act  should  express 
their  desire  for  a  convention  of  the  people  to  frame  a 
State  constitution  and  a  State  government,  the  com 
manding  general  should  proceed  as  directed  by  this 
bill,  and  take  steps  to  see  that  a  convention  was 
called  and  that  it  was  properly  guarded,  and  that 
everybody  had  a  right  to  vote,  and  then  adopt  if  you 
please  all  the  other  provisions  of  this  bill." 

Mr.  Doolittle  thought  there  was  a  practical  diffi 
culty  in  the  way  of  the  adoption  of  the  amendment. 
Mr.  Morton  was  opposed  to  submitting  the  question 
of  convention  or  no  convention  to  the  people  of  the 
rebel  States.  "Let  the  first  election,"  he  said,  "be 


396  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

held  simply  for  the  purpose  of  electing  delegates  to 
the  convention,  and  if  two-thirds  of  the  people  of 
those  States  choose  to  stand  off  upon  their  dignity 
or  upon  a  hatred  of  this  Government  and  refuse  to 
take  part  in  it,  do  not  let  it  be  in  their  power  to 
defeat  the  work  of  the  convention  and  prevent  its 
being  held." 

Mr.  Stewart  of  Nevada  deemed  the  amendment 
unnecessary.  He  believed  that  the  bill- would  con 
summate  the  work.  He  was  glad  to  see  Congress 
coming  up  to  the  work,  and  stating  fairly  and 
squarely  its  purposes.  They  dared  not  delay  the 
work  of  reconstruction,  and  he  was  opposed  to  put 
ting  anything  in  the  bill  that  should  tend  to  delay. 

Mr.  Johnson  of  Maryland  thought  it  was  the  duty 
of  Congress  and  of  the  people  of  the  States  excluded, 
to  bring  those  States  back  as  soon  as  possible.  He 
said  "  the  amendment  suggested  by  the  honorable 
member  from  Missouri  assumes  as  possible,  and  the 
honorable  member  from  Maine  supposes  that  it  may 
be  possible,  that  there  is  a  majority  in  each  one  of 
those  States  or  in  some  one  of  the  States  inimical  to  a 
restoration  of  their  particular  State  into  the  Union. 
That,  in  my  judgment,  is  a  hostility  if  it  exists, 
which  should  also  be  defeated.  It  is  but  another  mode 
of  accomplishing  one  of  the  designs  which  they 
had  in  inaugurating  the  rebellion,  to  escape  from 
their  obligation  as  States  and  as  citizens  of  such 
States."  The  vote  was  then  taken  on  Mr.  Drake's 
amendment  and  it  was  rejected. — Yeas  17,  nays  27. 


IN   CONGRESS.  397 

Mr.  Drake  then  moved  to  amend  the  fourth  sec 
tion  by  adding  that  no  constitution  should  entitle 
the  State  to  representation  unless  it  provided  that 
at  all  elections  the  electors  should  vote  by  closed 
ballot,  and  that  such  mode  of  voting  should  never 
be  changed  without  the  consent  of  Congress.  "  I 
propose/'  said  Mr.  Drake,  "that  those  poor  men 
shall  speak  the  voice  of  that  region.  I  propose 
that  no  more  aristocracies  shall  lay  down  the  law 
for  the  majority  of  that  people.  Sir,  we  cannot 
accomplish  it  in  any  other  way  than  by  guarding 
the  right  of  the  voter  there  in  the  closed  ballot, 
and  guarding  it  so  that  it  shall  never  be  taken 
away  from  him." 

Mr.  Trumbull  opposed  the  amendment.  "I  never," 
he  said,  "believed  much  in  that  kind  of  socrecy 
that  withholds  from  the  people  the  facts.  I  want 
to  see  every  man  an  independent  voter,  not  sneak 
ing  to  the  polls  and  hiding  his  expression  in  a  secret 
ballot.  I  confide  in  the  open,  independent  voter 
who  goes  to  the  polls  and  tells  how  he  votes."  Mr. 
Fessenden  said  he  should  vote  against  the  amend 
ment,  not  that  he  was  opposed  to  the  ballot,  for 
he  should  be  willing  to  take  any  precautions  to  se 
cure  it,  but  for  the  reason  that  he  was  opposed  to 
making  a  constitution  for  a  State.  He  preferred 
to  leave  all  questions  open  for  consideration  when 
the  constitutions  were  submitted  for  examination. 
Mr.  Conkling  of  New  York  denied  the  authority 
under  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  to  pass 


398  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

the  amendment,  and  lie  doubted  whether  a  perpet 
ual  provision  in  a  constitution,  if  it  could  be  em 
bodied  in  it,  that  voting  should  always  be  by  ballot 
and  never  otherwise,  would  tend  to  the  security  of 
any  one  or  any  thing.  Mr.  Wilson  of  Massachu 
setts  was  for  the  ballot,  and  trusted  those  States  in 
their  new  constitutions  would  adopt  it,  but  he  did 
not  wish  to  make  voting  by  ballot  a  condition  pre 
cedent  to  restoration.  He  feared  the  people  there 
and  their  friends  everywhere,  would  think  they 
were  seeking  new  grounds  of  difference,  rather  than 
a  reasonable  plan  of  adjustment.  Mr.  Wilson  said 
that  "from  all  sections  of  the  rebel  States  comes  the 
intelligence  that  masses  of  the  people  lately  in  re 
bellion  are  ready  to  accept  the  conditions  imposed 
by  the  nation  and  to  comply  with  the  terms  which 
the  nation,  in  the  plenitude  of  its  power,  exacts. 
To  carry  into  effect  the  act  for  the  more  efficient 
government  of  the  rebel  States,  and  to  facilitate 
the  restoration  of  these  States  to  their  practical  rela 
tions  with  the  Government,  I  introduced  this  bill 
on  the  7th  day  of  March.  It  was  carefully  drawn, 
and  received  the  sanction  of  gentlemen  of  talent 
and  character.  On  the  9th  it  was  taken  up  by  the 
Judiciary  Committee  of  the  Senate,  and  its  leading 
features  received  the  unanimous  support  of  the 
committee.  On  the  same  day  it  was  taken  up  by 
the  Judiciary  Committee  of  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  and  amended  in  some  of  its  details ;  re 
ported  to  the  House  on  the  llth,  and  on  the  same 


IN   CONGRESS.  399 

day  it  passed  the  House.  On  the  13th  this  bill 
comes  back  from  the  Senate  Committee  on  the 
Judiciary  with  the  pending  amendment  in  the  na 
ture  of  a  substitute,  the  House  bill  and  the  substi 
tute  of  the  committee  being  in  form  and  substance, 
in  purpose  and  in  name,  the  bill  introduced  by  me 
on  the  7th  of  the  month." 

Mr.  Wilson  said  that  there  were  thousands  of 
earnest  men  who  went  into  the  rebellion  or  were 
dragged  into  it,  who  confessed  their  mistake,  ac 
cepted  the  policy  of  freedom  and  enfranchisement, 
who  would  stand  upon  their  platform  and  fight  their 
battles  in  the  conflicts  of  the  future.  He  wanted 
to  see  those  men,  the  six  hundred  thousand  enfran 
chised  freedmen,  and  the  ever-loyal  men  of  the 
South  banded  together.  He  would  treat  them  with 
generous  confidence,  and  not  meet  their  proffered 
support  with  averted  faces,  and  continued  distrust 
and  reproaches.  "I  believe,"  he  said,  "that  the 
hour  has  come  when  the  victors  in  the  great  con 
flict  through  which  the  nation  has  passed  and  is 
passing  should  strive  by  generous  words  and  deeds 
to  convince  their  countrymen  lately  in  armed  re 
bellion  against  their  native  land,  that  we  embrace 
in  our  affection  the  whole  country  and  the  people 
of  the  whole  country,  and  that  we  would  forgive, 
forget,  and  unite." 

Mr.  Doolittle  maintained  that  it  was  unconstitu 
tional  to  impose  any  such  condition  upon  any  State. 
Mr.  Morton  suggested  that  the  clause  stating  that 


400  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

it  should  never  be  changed  should  be  omitted.  He 
did  not  believe  that  Congress  had  a  right  to  lay 
any  perpetual  obligation  upon  an  incoming  State. 
If  that  change  was  made,  he  should  vote  for  the 
amendment.  Mr.  Henderson  deemed  the  amend 
ment  unconstitutional  and  inexpedient.  Mr.  Buck- 
alew  thought  the  advantages  of  vote  by  ballot  had 
been  over-estimated  in  the  United  States  and  abroad. 
Mr.  Corbett  of  Oregon  felt  it  his  duty  to  vote 
against  the  amendment,  believing  it  would  not  ac 
complish  the  objects  desired. 

On  the  15th  the  Senate  resumed  the  considera 
tion  of  the  bill,  and  Mr.  Drake  modified  his  amend 
ment  and  it  was  rejected  without  a  division.  Mr. 
Fessenden  then  moved  to  amend  the  bill  so  as  to 
provide  that  the  commanding  General  should  fur 
nish  a  copy  of  the  registration  to  the  Provisional 
Governor  of  the  State,  and  that  whenever  the  Pro 
visional  government  of  the  State  should  by  legal 
enactment  provide  that  a  convention  should  be 
called,  the  commanding  General  should  then  direct 
the  election  of  delegates.  Mr.  Trumbull  opposed 
the  amendment ;  he  was  not  for  continuing  the  loyal 
people  of  those  States  under  the  disloyal  govern 
ments.  Those  governments  were  got  up  by  the 
rebel  element  and  were  under  the  control  of  the 
rebel  element.  He  was  unwilling  that  those  gov 
ernments  which  had  been  declared  illegal  should 
determine  the  question  of  holding  conventions.  The 
whole  object  of  the  bill  wras  to  afford  facilities  to 


IN   CONGRESS.  401 

the  people  to  give  expression  to  their  opinion.  In 
reply  Mr.  Fessenden  said  that  the  governments  had 
been  declared  illegal  as  State  governments,  but 
they  had  been  legalized  as  provisional  govern 
ments.  Those  provisional  governments  represented 
the  people,  or  they  would  soon  do  so.  He  wished 
to  leave  to  the  men  who  formed  those  State  gov 
ernments,  to  decide  whether  or  not  they  wished  to 
frame  State  constitutions  and  come  back  to  the 
Union.  Mr.  Henderson  felt  constrained  to  vote 
against  the  amendment.  The  reconstruction  bill 
of  the  last  session  only  required  that  the  constitu 
tion  should  be  ratified  by  a  majority  of  the  persons 
voting ;  this  bill  required  not  only  a  majority  of 
those  who  saw  fit  to  vote,  but  a  majority  of  all  the 
voters  registered.  Mr.  Fessenden  inquired  whether 
we  could  with  propriety  depart  from  the  provi 
sions  of  the  original  act.  "We  agreed,"  said  Mr.. 
Fessenden,  "and  stated  to  them  that  if  they  would 
adopt  certain  provisions  in  a  certain  way,  they 
would  be  received  on  the  terms  specified.  Ought 
we  now  to  make  a  departure  from  what  we  origi 
nally  proposed?  My  friend  from  Massachusetts, 
who  originally  introduced  this  bill,  thinks  the  bill 
weakened  by  that  change,  and  that  it  ought  not  to 
be  adopted." 

Mr.  Henderson  replied  that  he  thought  the  de 
parture  from  the  original  bill  might  be  for  the  worse. 
He  should  vote   against  the  amendment  proposed 
by  Mr.  Fessenden,  at  least  until  it  was  determined 
26 


402  RECONSTRUCTION    MEASURES 

that  a  full  majority  of  the  registered  voters  should 
be  required  for  the  ratification.  Mr.  Stewart  thought 
the  amendment  would  amount  to  a  practical  ob 
struction.  It  took  from  the  people  who  were  al 
lowed  to  vote  and  to  register,  the  right  to  deter 
mine  the  question  of  restoration.  It  placed  it  in 
the  power  of  the  President,  acting  in  harmony  with 
the  rebel  leaders,  to  obstruct  the  Congressional 
plan.  It  said  in  substance  to  the  leading  rebels, 
"you  shall  not  be  restored,  but  you  may  decide 
when  others  shall  be  restored."  The  practical  ope 
ration  of  the  amendment  would  be  to  place  loyal 
people  under  subjection  to  the  rebels.  Mr.  Howard 
of  Michigan  declared  his  intention  to  vote  for  the 
amendment.  He  was  for  taking  every  precaution 
to  obtain  a  free  and  full  expression  of  the  South 
ern  communities  upon  the  great  fundamental  and 
elementary  question  of  returning  peacefully  into 
the  Union.  He  was  in  no  haste  for  their  return. 
"They  took  their  own  time,"  he  said,  "to  get  out 
of  the  Union,  let  them  take  their  own  time  to  re 
turn.  They  took  their  own  time  to  initiate  the 
war,  we  took  our  own  time  to  close  the  war."  Mr. 
Stewart  would  inquire  how  the  voice  of  a  majority 
could  be  heard  when  you  say  it  should  not  be  heard 
unless  the  rebels  would  let  them  speak.  Mr.  How 
ard  replied  that  the  present  members  of  the  rebel 
legislatures  would  not  remain  in  office  for  life ;  a 
majority  of  the  legal  voters  would  revolutionize  the 
rebel  governments  and  their  voices  become  potential. 


IN   CONGRESS.  403 

Mr.  Wilson  said  the  President  of  the  United 
States  had  permitted  the  rebels  to  use  the  machin 
ery  of  their  old  State  governments,  shut  out 
two-fifths  of  their  population  from  any  rights  what 
ever,  and  take  control  of  those  States.  Congress 
had  dictated  the  complete  terms  and  conditions  of 
restoration.  Congress  had  clothed  colored  men 
with  the  right  of  suffrage,  and  they  were  majorities 
in  several  States.  He  had  intended  when  he  intro 
duced  this  plan  of  restoration,  to  put  aside  the  rebel 
leaders,  the  rebel  governors  and  legislatures,  to 
make  them  take  "back  seats,"  and  to  bring  the  loyal 
men,  white  and  black,  into  the  front  seats.  "That 
is,"  he  said,  "the  original  bill,  and  that  is  its  pur 
pose.  With  the  exercise  of  practical  judgment, 
with  good  organization,  scattering  the  great  truth 
and  the  facts  before  the  people,  a  majority  of  these 
States  will  within  a  twelvemonth  send  here  Sena 
tors  and  Representatives  who  think  as  we  think, 
and  speak  as  we  speak,  and  vote  as  we  vote,  and 
will  give  their  electoral  votes  for  whoever  we  nom 
inate  as  candidate  for  President  in  1868.  These 
rebel  States  are  ours  if  we  will  accept  them.  Do 
Senators  desire  to  repel  them  ? 

####:#  ### 

Do  you  distrust  these  black  men  who  were  true 
to  us  all  through  the  war?  They  are  as  sure  to 
vote  for  the  cause  of  liberty,  justice,  and  their  coun 
try  as  they  were  to  fight  for  their  country  in  the 
war.  Yet  we  are  higgling  about  giving  them  the 


404  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

opportunity  to  vote  after  we  have  decided  that  they 
shall  possess  the  right  to  vote." 

Mr.  Nye  of  Nevada  did  not  fully  sympathize 
with  the  views  expressed  by  Mr.  Wilson ;  he  was 
in  no  hurry  to  have  the  rebels  come  back.  He  was 
not  unmindful  of  the  importance  of  the  settlement 
of  the  question  of  reconstruction,  but  the  highest 
consideration  was  safety  to  the  institutions  for 
which  they  had  given  so  much  blood  and  treasure. 
He  did  not  believe  that  a  rebel  could  ever  be  made 
loyal ;  a  conquered  rebel  was  always  rebellious. 
He  would  not  keep  the  newly-enfranchised  citizens 
from  tasting  the  sweets  of  the  power  of  the  gov 
ernment,  but  he  would  guard  them  against  being 
cheated  and  deceived.  "In  this  hurry/'  he  said, 
"this  avalanche  of  coming  States,  I  tell  you,  in  my 
judgment,  lies  the  greatest  danger  of  the  hour.  If 
we  are  to  take  poison,  let  us  take  it  in  small  doses, 
a  little  at  a  time ;  do  not  give  us  a  fatal  dose  at 
once.  These  eleven  rebellious  States,  coming  as  the 
wind  comes,  into  these  Halls  of  Congress,  will  shake 
the  foundation  upon  which  the  Senate  stands,  even 
in  Massachusetts." 

Mr.  Morton  of  Indiana  could  not  vote  for  the 
amendment.  It  was  deliberately  proposed  to  put 
into  the  hands  of  the  State  governments,  the  de 
termination  of  the  whole  question  of  reconstruction. 
He  would  tell  the  Senator  from  Nevada  where 
lay  the  danger  of  the  hour.  It  was  in  permitting 
the  impression  to  go  abroad  that  the  great  Union 


IN   CONGRESS.  405 

party  was  opposed  to  reconstruction.  "Whenever," 
said  Mr.  Morton,  "that  impression  shall  fasten  itself 
upon  the  minds  of  the  people  of  this  country,  we 
shall  go  into  a  minority.  The  success  of  the  Union 
party,  in  my  opinion,  depends  upon  speedy  and  suc 
cessful  reconstruction ;  and  if  we  are  able  to  go  into 
the  canvass  of  1868,  and  have  inscribed  upon  our 
banner  '  the  rebellion  suppressed,  the  Union  restored, 
equal  rights  and  liberty  secured  to  all/  there  can 
be  no  successful  opposition  made  to  us,  but  we  shall 
sweep  every  northern  State,  and  perhaps  some 
southern  States,  according  to  the  prediction  of  the 
Senator  from  Massachusetts." 

Mr.  Wilson  said,  "the  Senator  from  Nevada  tells 
us  that  we  seem  to  be  influenced  in  our  action  by 
the  necessities  of  the  rebels.  When  and  how  have 
we  been  influenced  by  the  necessities  of  the  rebels  ? 
We  put  down  their  rebellion  with  the  hand  of  war 
after  more  than  six  hundred  bloody  contests.  We 
have  moved  steadily  onward  by  legislation  and  con 
stitutional  amendments  until  we  have  crowned  all 
by  requiring  as  an  unalterable  condition  that  the 
rebels  shall  accept  our  ideas,  principles,  and  meas 
ures,  and  complete  the  work  of  our  hands." 

Mr.  Wilson  said  that  Mr.  Nye  was  willing  to  vote 
for  an  amendment  that  put  reconstruction  and  res 
toration  into  the  keeping  of  rebel  legislatures.  He 
did  not  want  rebel  legislatures  to  use  the  command 
ing  power  of  their  organizations  to  obtain  the  con 
trolling  influence  in  the  constitutional  conventions. 


406  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

Mr.  Frelinghuysen  of  New  Jersey  took  it  for 
granted  that  the  object  of  the  reconstruction  meas 
ure  was  the  admission,  not  the  exclusion  of  the  rebel 
States.  The  pending  bill  made  ample  provision  to 
ascertain  the  will  of  the  people,  but  if  the  amend 
ment  should  be  adopted  they  could  not  get  at  the 
will  of  the  people.  The  country  was  in  no  danger, 
it  was  safe  in  the  hands  of  the  people  who  own  it 
and  love  it.  He  wanted  to  extend  the  franchise, 
and  let  it  be  enjoyed  by  all  in  those  ten  rebel  States. 
"The  war  being  ended,"  said  Mr.  Frelinghuysen, 
"the  Constitution  being  vindicated,  let  us  have 
harmony  and  peace,  not  by  the  sacrifice  of  any 
principle,  but  by  obtaining  all  that  Radicals  or  radi 
cal  Radicals  ever  asked." 

Mr.  Drake  felt  constrained  to  vote  against  the 
amendment  moved  by  Mr.  Fessenden.  "In  voting," 
said  Mr.  Sumner, "  on  the  proposition  of  the  Senator 
from  Maine,  I  ask  myself  one  question :  how  would 
the  Union  men  of  the  South  vote,  if  they  had  the 
privilege,  On  the  proposition  now  before  us  ?  They 
are  unrepresented.  We  here  ought  to  be  the  repre 
sentatives  of  the  unrepresented.  How,  then,  would 
the  Union  men  of  the  South  vote  on  the  proposition 
of  the  Senator  from  Maine  ?  I  cannot  doubt  that 
with  one  voice  they  would  vote  no.  They  would 
say  that  they  would  not  trust  their  fortunes  in  any 
way  to  the  existing  governments  of  the  rebel  States. 
Mr.  Fessenden's  amendment  was  then  rejected  ;— 
Yeas  14,  nays  33. 


IN   CONGRESS.  407 

On  the  16th,  the  Senate  resumed  the  considera 
tion  of  the  supplementary  reconstruction  bill.  Mr. 
Howe  of  Wisconsin  moved  to  amend  the  bill  so  that 
it  would  entitle  the  State  to  "all  the  prerogatives 
of  a  State,"  instead  of  to  "representation."  This 
amendment  was  opposed  by  Mr.  Trumbull,  Mr. 
Henderson,  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  Mr.  Howard  and 
Mr.  Conkling,  and  rejected  without  a  division.  Mr. 
Howard  then  moved  to  strike  out  the  form  of  the 
oath  in  the  bill,  and  insert  as  an  amendment  an 
oath  reciting  all  the  requirements  contained  in  the 
act  for  the  better  government  of  the  rebel  States, 
and  to  add  to  it  that  every  person  swearing  falsely 
should  be  deemed  guilty  of  perjury,  and  on  convic 
tion  be  punished  as  provided  by  law.  Mr.  Trumbull 
trusted  that  the  Senate  would  not  adopt  that  long 
oath.  Mr.  Sumner  thought  it  was  important  that 
in  the  oath  there  should  be  a  precise  enumeration 
set  forth  of  the  obligations  assumed  by  the  party 
taking  it. 

Mr.  Tipton  of  Nebraska  would  vote  for  the  bill 
without  Mr.  Howard's  amendment,  but  he  should 
regret  to  be  required  to  vote  for  it  without  that 
amendment.  At  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Morton  of 
Indiana,  Mr.  Howard  modified  his  amendment  by 
striking  out  so  much  of  the  oath  as  required  that 
they  are  sincerely  and  earnestly  attached  to  the 
government  of  the  United  States.  Mr.  Frelinghuy- 
sen  thought  there  was  no  necessity  of  adopting  as 
an  amendment  the  form  of  oath  proposed  by  Mr. 


408  RECONSTRUCTION  MEASURES 

Howard.  Mr.  Sherman  opposed  the  amendment. 
Mr.  Conkling  of  New  York  thought  the  amendment 
wise,  and  hoped  it  would  be  adopted.  Mr.  Merrill 
of  Maine  maintained  that  the  legal  effect  of  the 
oath  in  the  bill  and  the  oath  proposed  by  Mr.  How 
ard  was  the  same ;  the  object  was  the  same  and  the 
result  was  the  same.  All  who  favor  the  oath  in  the 
bill,  could  not  have  any  well-grounded  objection  to 
the  oath  proposed  by  the  Senator  from  Michigan. 
Mr.  Wilson  said  it  was  a  question  originally,  whether 
it  was  best  to  have  any  oath  at  all  or  not.  The 
primary  object  of  the  oath  was  this; — "we  have 
nearly  seven  hundred  thousand  new  voters  of  an 
emancipated  race ;  there  is  a  great  deal  of  hostility 
in  some  quarters  to  their  voting,  and  it  was  supposed 
that  requiring  an  oath  of  every  elector  that  he 
would  obey  the  laws,  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
giving  these  men  the  right  to  vote,  we  would  pre 
vent  his  disobeying  the  laws,  or  by  violence  or  any 
other  acts  driving  these  people  from  the  polls." 
The  vote  was  then  taken  on  Mr.  Howard's  amend 
ment,  and  it  was  rejected. — Yeas  18,  nays  19. 

Mr.  Sumner  then  moved,  in  section  four  to  insert 
the  words  "and  registered,"  after  the  word  "quali 
fied,"  so  that  it  wrould  read,  "that  the  constitution 
shah1  be  ratified  by  a  majority  of  the  voters  qualified 
and  registered."  The  amendment  was  opposed  by 
Mr.  Johnson.  He  thought  that  the  effect  of  the  bill 
might  be  that  a  few  whites  who  desired  to  keep  the 
States  under  military  rule,  acting  under  a  belief 


IN   CONGRESS.  409 

that  if  the  States  were  restored,  their  influence 
would  be  diminished,  might  be  able  to  persuade  the 
negroes  that  they  would  fail  to  enjoy  their  rights  in 
a  State  Government 

Mr.  Wilson  was  constrained  to  vote  against  the 
amendment.  It  was  the  intention  of  the  original 
bill  that  a  majority  of  the  votes  given  should  deter 
mine  the  result.  He  believed  the  section  as  it  now 
stood,  meant  a  majority  of  the  votes  given  on  the 
question,  and  he  had  no  doubt  that  would  be  the 
judicial  decision.  The  only  effect  of  the  amend 
ment  would  be,  to  postpone  the  admission  of  those 
States.  "I  deem  it,"  he  said,  "to  be  the  crowning 
act,  the  grandest  act  we  can  perform,  to  bring  these 
States  in,  to  restore  them  to  their  practical  relations  at 
the  earliest  day  on  the  principles,  terms,  and  conditions 
we  have  imposed,  for  these  principles,  terms,  and 
conditions  are  sanctioned  by  patriotism,  liberty,  and 
justice.  The  sooner  these  ten  rebel  States  incorpo 
rate  into  their  constitutions  these  principles,  terms, 
and  conditions,  the  sooner  these  States  accept  the 
policy  of  the  equality  of  man,  the  better  for  all." 

Mr.  Wilson  maintained  that  the  enfranchisement 
of  seven  hundred  thousand  freedmen  changed  the 
face  of  affairs  in  the  South,  made  those  States  friends 
of  the  country,  of  liberty,  and  of  the  Republican 
policy,  and  that  ninety-nine  out  of  every  hundred 
of  those  black  men  would  vote  as  they  fought,  for 
the  country,  for  freedom,  for  emancipation,  for  civil 
rights,  for  enfranchisement,  for  elevation,  for  improve* 


410  RECONSTRUCTION  MEASURES 

ment.  He  wanted  to  meet  the  friends  of  the  coun 
try  in  the  South  with  the  warm  grasp  of  the  hand, 
and  not  smite  them  in  the  face  and  send  them  back. 
Mr.  Nye  maintained  that  a  majority  of  the  reg 
istered  vote  was  essential  upon  the  question  wheth 
er  they  should  have  a  convention  or  not,  or  upon 
the  question  whether  the  constitution  which  was 
framed  should  be  adopted  or  not.  He  wanted  to 
caution  Mr.  Wilson  against  extending  his  Christian 
charity  too  far  towards  these  men.  "We  have," 
said  Mr.  Nye,  "a  high  example  of  the  manner  in 
which  rebels  were  treated  by  Divine  power.  When 
the  arch-rebel  was  convicted  before  a  tribunal  that 
unmasked  rebellion  to  its  nakedness,  he  was  thrown 
over  the  battlement,  kicked  out,  and  he  has  never 
returned  to  disturb  the  peaceful  reign  of  Him  who 
reigns  over  all.  Here  my  friend,  reversing  that 
great  and  divine  example,  says  he  wants  to  hug 
them  at  once — to  reach  out  his  hands  for  them.  It 
is  simply  a  matter  of  taste,  in  which  I  do  not  share 
with  the  honorable  Senator  from  Massachusetts." 

"I  remind,"  replied  Mr.  Wilson,  "the  Senator 
from  Nevada  that  this  nation  has  been  engaged  in 
a  mighty  contest  of  ideas,  a  bloody  struggle,  in 
which  all  the  passions  of  the  people  of  the  South 
and  of  the  North  have  been  aroused.  That  bloody 
struggle  is  ended,  that  contest  of  ideas  is  closed. 
Patriotism,  humanity,  and  Christianity  bid  us  of  the 
North  and  of  the  South  subdue,  hush,  and  calm  the 
passions  engendered  by  the  terrific  conflicts  through 


UNIVERSITY    I 
/ 

IN   CONGRESS.  411 

which  we  have  passed,  and  to  call  the  dews  of  bless 
ing,  not  the  bolts  of  cursing,  down  upon  each  other. 
We  should  remember  the  words  of  one  of  our  own 
poets  of  freedom  and  humanity — 

"Always  he  who  most  forgiveth 
In  his  brother,  is  most  just." 

Whatever  the  champions  of  the  lost  cause  in  the 
South  may  do,  we  of  the  North,  whose  cause  is  tri 
umphant  in  the  fields  of  war  and  of  peace,  should 
appeal  not  to  the  passions  and  prejudices  and  ha 
treds  of  the  people,  but  to  the  heart  and  conscience 
and  reason.  Unreasoning  passion  may  applaud 
violent  appeals  to-day,  but  unclouded  reason  will  ut 
ter  its  voice  of  condemnation  to-morrow. 

The  honorable  Senator  from  Nevada  is  pleased  to 
tell  me  that  I  am  anxious  to  welcome  rebels  here. 
I  do  not  propose  to  welcome  rebels  here ;  but  I  do 
desire  to  welcome  tried  and  true  men  of  the  South, 
the  representatives  of  the  seven  hundred  thousand 
enfranchised  black  men,  the  ever  loyal  white  men 
of  the  South,  and  the  men  compromised  by  the  re 
bellion  whose  affections  are  again  given  to  their 
native  land,  and  who  would  now  peril  their  lives 
for  the  unity  of  the  Republic  and  the  triumph  of 
the  old  flag." 

Mr.  Fowler  of  Tennessee  was  of  opinion  that  a 
majority  of  those  who  were  registered  would  be 
sure  to  go  to  the  polls.  He  thought  there  would  be 
a  violent  contest  in  every  one  of  those  States,  and 


412  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

he  believed  those  in  favor  of  reconstruction  would 
triumph. 

The  debate  was  further  continued  by  Mr.  Nye 
and  Mr.  Wilson,  and  the  vote  was  then  taken  on 
Mr.  Sumner's  amendment,  and  it  was  rejected. — 
Yeas  19,  nays  25.  Mr.  Morton  of  Indiana  then 
moved  to  amend  the  bill  so  that  a  majority  of  the 
votes  given  on  the  question  of  ratification  should 
determine  the  result.  Mr.  Trumbull  expressed  him 
self  in  favor  of  the  principle  involved  in  the  amend 
ment.  Mr.  Howard  said  he  was  opposed  to  the 
establishment  of  State  governments  in  the  rebel 
States,  unless  it  was  perfectly  clear  that  the  votes 
of  a  majority  of  the  voting  population  had  been 
given  upon  the  great  question  of  organizing  State 
governments  and  returning  to  the  Union.  He 
wished  to  base  the  new  governments  upon  the  prin 
ciple  that  a  majority  of  the  voting  population  de 
manded  them.  In  reply,  Mr,  Morton  said  :  "This  is 
simply  a  question  whether  the  stay-at-homes,  politi 
cal  sluggards,  sullen  rebels,  men  who  never  take 
any  interest  in  an  election,  and  never  go  to  an  elec 
tion,  can  defeat  the  work  of  reconstruction,  defeat 
the  will  of  the  majority  who  do  go  to  an  election 
and  take  an  interest  in  reconstruction  and  want  the 
work  to  go  forward." 

Mr.  Conkling  of  New  York  expressed  his  dissent 
from  the  prevailing  idea  that  safeguards  and  pro 
prieties  should  be  disregarded  to  bring  in  Represent 
atives  a  little  sooner  than  might  otherwise  be  done. 


IN   CONGRESS.  413 

"My  belief  is,"  said  Mr.  Conkling,  "that  we  part 
with  the  sheet-anchor  upon  which  this  whole  ques 
tion  depends;  that  we  come  to  a  'lame  and  impo 
tent  conclusion'  in  the  legislative  struggle  in  which 
we  have  been  engaged  for  the  last  year,  when  we 
put  in  the  hands  of  a  minority,  no  matter  how 
small,  in  every  State,  in  the  first  place  to  pass  con 
clusively  upon  the  question  whether  a  convention 
shall  be  called  or  not,  and  secondly,  upon  the  ques 
tion  whether  the  will  of  that  convention,  as  em 
bodied  in  the  organic  law,  shall  become  irreversible 
law  as  to  the  whole  community  which  they  profess 
to  represent." 

"I  am  in  earnest,"  said  Mr.  Morton,  "about  this 
work  of  reconstruction.  I  want  it  to  go  forward ; 
and  as  I  am  a  true  Republican,  and  I  believe  the 
salvation  of  this  country  depends  upon  the  main 
tenance  of  that  party  in  power,  I  am  in  favor  of 
speedy  and  successful  reconstruction  for  the  preser 
vation  and  the  continued  power  of  the  Republican 
party." 

Mr.  Howard  replied  that  it  was  in  vain  to  expect 
peace  and  tranquillity  under  ephemeral,  farcical 
governments,  established  without  the  assent  of  a 
majority  of  the  registered  voters  of  those  States ; 
that  such  governments  depending  upon  a  minority 
could  not  be  sustained  even  by  military  force,  and 
would  become  a  disgrace  to  the  nation  and  to  the 
name  of  Republicanism.  On  motion  of  Mr.  Sum- 
ner,  the  yeas  and  nays  were  taken  on  Mr.  Mor- 


414  RECONSTRUCTION  MEASURES 

ton's  amendment,  and  it  was  agreed  to. — Yeas  22, 
nays  21. 

Mr.  Edmunds  of  Vermont  then  moved  to  so 
amend  the  bill  that  it  should  require  that  three- 
fifths  of  all  the  registered  voters  should  vote  on  the 
question  of  ratification.  Mr.  Edmunds  thought  it 
right  to  require  that  at  least  three-fifths  of  the  reg 
istered  voters  should  vote  one  way  or  the  other. 
Mr.  Trumbull  said  it  was  manifest  that  under  the 
amendment  of  the  Senator  from  Vermont,  all  that 
was  necessary  to  defeat  the  proposition  was  for 
those  who  were  opposed  to  it  not  to  go  to  the  polls. 
Two-fifths  of  the  registered  voters  by  staying  at 
home  could  defeat  the  Constitution.  Mr.  Sherman 
thought  the  amendment  a  wise  one.  "No  man," 
he  said,  "will  take  the  oath  prescribed  by  the  first 
section  of  this  bill,  and  have  his  name  registered, 
unless  he  intends  to  participate  in  framing  and 
forming  the  constitution."  Mr.  Trumbull  asked  if 
it  was  possible  that  a  proposition  could  be  right 
that  allowed  two-fifths,  by  staying  away  from  the 
polls,  to  defeat  a  constitution  which  they  could  not 
defeat  by  voting  every  one  of  them  against  it.  "If 
these  people,"  replied  Mr.  Sherman,  "are  going  to 
lay  back  in  their  position  of  quiet  rebellion  and  re 
sist  all  the  movements  we  are  now  providing  for 
them,  all  this  machinery  that  we  are  now  proposing 
to  employ  for  their  advantage,  let  them  stay  there, 
and  stay  there  forever  if  they  will." 

After  further  debate  by  Mr.  Morton,  Mr.  Sher- 


IN   CONGRESS.  415 

man,  Mr.  Hendricks  and  Mr.  Edmunds,  the  question 
was  taken  on  the  amendment,  and  it  was  rejected. 
— Yeas  19,  nays  21.  Mr.  Edmunds  then  moved  so 
to  amend  the  bill  as  to  require  that  a  majority  of 
the  votes  registered  should  be  cast  on  the  question 
of  ratification.  Mr.  Trumbull  was  unwilling  to 
sanction  a  principle  that  made  the  vote  of  a  man 
who  staid  at  home  count  more  than  that  of  one 
who  went  to  the  polls.  Mr.  Conness  believed  the 
loyal  men,  black  and  white,  in  the  South  who  were 
in  favor  of  reconstruction,  wrould  be  registered  and 
would  be  sure  to  vote.  He  would  trust  those  men 
with  reconstruction,  but  he  was  not  willing  to  put 
it  in  the  power  of  those  who  were  for  the  rebellion 
to  prevent  reconstruction.  Mr.  Tipton  of  Nebraska 
said  :  "  For  four  years  we  have  done  without  the 
representatives  of  disloyalty  in  this  Chamber ;  for 
four  years  more  we  can  do  without  the  aid  of  the 
disloyal  in  authorizing  States  at  the  South ;  and 
loyal  white  men  and  loyal  black  men  who  have 
lately  sustained  the  flag  of  the  country,  wrill  come 
to  our  aid  in  this  matter.  I  am  not  willing  that 
the  disloyal,  by  any  classification,  by  any  mathemat 
ical  calculation,  shall  be  permitted  to  stay  at  home 
and  assist  in  defeating  the  will  of  the  loyal  men  of 
the  North." 

Mr.  Edmunds'  amendment  was  then  agreed  to. — 
Yeas  24,  nays  14.  It  was  then  moved  by  Mr. 
Buckalew  that  the  bill  be  so  amended  as  to  author 
ize  the  registering  officers  to  administer  oaths  to 


416  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

those  who  desired  to  be  registered,  and  to  examine 
them  touching  their  electoral  qualifications.  This 
amendment  was  opposed  by  Mr.  Trumbull  and  re 
jected  without  a  division. 

It  was  then  moved  by  Mr.  Corbett  of  Oregon 
that  the  bill  be  so  amended  as  to  require  thirty 
days'  notice  previous  to  registration,  and  books  of 
registry  should  be  kept  open  thirty  days  previous 
to  an  election.  The  amendment  was  briefly  advo 
cated  by  Mr.  Morton  and  Mr.  Howard,  and  agreed 
to. — Yeas  25,  nays  13.  On  motion  of  Mr.  Sherman 
the  vote  adopting  the  amendment  was  reconsidered. 
Mr.  Trumbull  said  it  was  impossible  to  execute  the 
bill  if  that  amendment  was  embodied  in  it.  Mr. 
Sherman  moved  to  amend  Mr.  Corbett's  amendment 
so  as  simply  to  require  that  thirty  days'  notice  of 
registration  should  be  given,  leaving  the  mode  of 
notice  to  the  commanding  General.  Mr.  Corbett's 
amendment  was  further  supported  by  Mr.  Howard 
and  Mr.  Corbett,  and  opposed  by  Mr.  Wilson  and 
Mr.  Trumbull,  and  rejected  without  a  division.  Mr. 
Nye  then  moved  that  the  registration  should  be 
completed  twenty  days  previous  to  the  day  of  vot 
ing,  and  that  three  copies  of  the  completed  registry 
should  be  posted  in  each  voting  precinct.  The  amend 
ment  was  opposed  by  Mr.  Trumbull  and  rejected. 

It  was  then  moved  by  Mr.  Wilson  to  amend  the 
bill  by  adding  a  section  providing  that  the  duties 
imposed  upon  the  commanding  General  of  each  dis 
trict,  might  with  his  consent  be  performed  by  the 


IN   CONGRESS.  417 

acting  Governor  of  any  State,  who  should  take  an 
oath  to  perform  the  same,  and  to  take  and  subscribe 
the  oath  prescribed  by  the  act  approved  July  2d, 
1862,  entitled  "An  act  to  prescribe  an  oath  of  office." 
Mr.  Wilson  said  we  had  governors  in  Virginia, 
Arkansas,  and  Louisiana  who  could  take  the  iron 
clad  oath.  They  were  the  only  governors  who 
could  take  that  oath,  and  the  assent  of  the  com 
manders  of  the  district  must  be  obtained  before  they 
could  perform  the  duties.  This  provision  was  in 
the  original  bill  he  had  introduced,  but  was  stricken 
out  by  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary  in  the 
House  of  Representatives.  Some  of  the  most  ear 
nest  men  of  those  States  were  in  favor  of  such  a 
provision  before  the  bill  was  brought  into  either 
House.  "I  have,"  said  Mr.  Conness,  "three  objec 
tions  to  this  amendment.  One  is  that  it  will  destroy 
in  the  respect  to  which  it  applies,  or  is  proposed  to 
apply,  the  uniformity  of  the  plan,  making  different 
sources  of  authority  to  put  the  scheme  in  operation. 
Another  is  that  it  will  enable,  if  adopted,  military 
commanders  who  have  a  desire  to  do  that  to  shuffle 
off  from  themselves  the  responsibility  of  putting  it 
into  operation.  The  third  is  that  I  would  sooner 
trust  either  of  the  military  commanders  who  have 
been  named  in  these  States  than  I  would  either  of 
the  so-called  loyal  Governors." 

Mr.  Drake  then  moved  to  amend  the  bill  so  that 
at  the  election  of  delegates  a  vote  should  be  taken 
for  or  against  a  convention,  and  if  a  majority  of  the 
27 


418  BECONSTRUCTION  MEASURES 

votes  given  should  be  for  a  convention  then  a  con 
vention  should  be  held,  but  if  the  majority  should 
be  against  a  convention,  then  it  should  not  be  held. 
After  debate  in  which  Mr.  Drake,  Mr.  Conkling,  Mr. 
Trumbull,  Mr.  Wilson,  Mr.  Hendricks,  Mr.  Howe  and 
Mr.  Cragin  participated,  Mr.  Drake's  amendment 
was  agreed  to.  Mr.  Conkling  of  New  York  moved 
a  reconsideration  of  the  vote  adopting  Mr.  Drake's 
amendment,  with  a  view  so  to  amend  it  as  to  require 
that  a  majority  of  the  votes  registered  shall  be  for 
a  convention,  instead  of  a  majority  of  the  votes 
given  at  the  election.  Mr.  Sumner  was  for  founding 
these  governments  on  a  majority  of  the  votes  reg 
istered.  He  saw  no  security  for  the  future  unless 
that  safeguard  was  set  up.  The  vote  was  then  taken 
on  Mr.  Conkling's  motion  to  reconsider  the  vote 
adopting  Mr.  Drake's  amendment,  and  it  was  agreed 
to.— Yeas  21,  nays  18. 

Mr.  Conkling  then  moved  so  to  amend  Mr.  Drake's 
amendment  as  to  require  a  majority  of  all  the  votes 
registered,  instead  of  a  majority  of  all  the  votes  given, 
for  the  convention.  The  amendment  was  advocated 
by  Mr.  Fessenden,  opposed  by  Mr.  Trumbull,  Mr. 
Morton,  Mr.  Drake  and  Mr.  Williams,  and  rejected. 
— Yeas  17,  nays  22.  Mr.  Drake's  amendment  was 
then  agreed  to.  Mr.  Edmunds  then  moved  so  to 
amend  the  bill  that  the  convention  should  not  be 
held  unless  a  majority  of  the  registered  voters 
should  have  voted  on  the  question  of  holding  such 
convention.  After  debate  in  which  Mr.  Trumbull, 
Mr.  Edmunds  and  Mr.  Howard  took  part,  Mr. 


IN   CONGRESS.  419 

Edmunds'  amendment  was  agreed  to. — Yeas  21, 
nays  18.  Mr.  Howard  then  moved  to  amend  the 
bill  by  striking  out  the  oath  and  inserting  another, 
reciting  the  qualifications  necessary  for  a  voter  under 
the  act,  and  the  amendment  was  agreed  to. — Yeas 
26,  nays  15. 

Mr.  Drake  then  moved  to  amend  the  bill  so  as  to 
provide  that  no  constitution  should  entitle  a  State 
to  representation  unless  it  provided  that  the  electors 
should  vote  by  ballot ;  the  amendment  was  agreed 
to. — Yeas  22,  nays  19.  Mr.  Trumbull  then  moved 
to  reconsider  the  vote  adopting  Mr.  Drake's  amend 
ment.  Mr.  Trumbull,  Mr.  Williams,  Mr.  Stewart  and 
Mr.  Morton  spoke  for  reconsideration,  and  Mr.  Yates 
and  Mr.  Sumner  opposed  it.  It  was  then  reconsid 
ered  without  a  division.  Mr.  Drake  then  modified 
his  amendment  and  it  was  rejected. — Yeas  17,  nays 
22.  Mr.  Sumner  then  moved  to  amend  the  bill  so 
as  to  provide  that  the  constitution  should  require 
the  legislature  to  establish  and  maintain  a  system 
of  public  schools,  open  to  all  without  distinction  of 
race  or  color.  Mr.  Sumner  said  he  should  vote  for 
the  bill  because  it  was  all  that  Congress  was  disposed 
to  enact  at  that  time.  He  confessed  his  regret 
that  Congress  chose  to  employ  the  military  power 
for  purposes  of  reconstruction.  "By  the  system 
which  you  have  adopted,"  said  Mr.  Sumner,  "the 
civil  is  subordinate  to  the  military,  and  the  civilian 
yields  to  the  soldier.  You  accord  to  the  army  an 
6 initiative'  which  I  would  assure  to  the  civil  power. 


420  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

I  regret  this.  I  am  unwilling  that  reconstruction 
should  have  a  military '  initiative."  I  would  not  see 
new  States  born  of  the  bayonet. 

****#*$* 

For  a  military  occupation,  bristling  with  bayonets, 
I  would  substitute  the  smile  of  peace.  But  this 
cannot  be  done  without  education.  As  the  soldier 
disappears,  his  place  must  be  supplied  by  the  school 
master.  The  muster  roll  must  be  exchanged  for  the 
school  register,  and  our  headquarters  must  be  in  a 
school-house." 

Mr.  Frelinghuysen  protested  against  the  declara 
tion  of  Mr.  Sumner  that  States  were  about  to  be 
born  of  the  bayonet.  "We  have"  said  Mr.  Freling 
huysen,  "been  engaged  here  for  weeks  in  adopting 
measures  for  the  reconstruction  of  the  rebel  States, 
and  if  the  vote  of  the  distinguished  Senator  was 
not  secured,  he  failed  to  vote  or  speak  against  this 
proceeding ;  and  now,  when  the  work  is  about  con 
summated,  late  on  Saturday  night,  and  when  we  are 
about  to  take  the  final  vote  and  to  adjourn,  he  with 
all  the  power  of  his  influence  gives  it  out  to  the 
world  that  we  are  establishing  States  that  are  to  be 
born  of  the  bayonet.  No,  sir ;  no.  The  constituents 
of  these  States  are  as  free  to  form  constitutions  or  not 
to  form  them  as  any  community  that  ever  existed, 
and  I  for  one  will  not  submit  to  be  charged  with 
being  a  party  to  the  formation  of  States  by  the 
bayonet." 

Mr.  Stewart  of  Nevada  said  he  expected  to  vote 


IN   CONGRESS.  421 

for  the  bill,  and  it  was  very  unpleasant  on  every 
occasion  to  hear  it  branded  as  a  bad  measure.  If 
any  gentleman  considered  it  a  bad  bill,  an  enormity, 
a  violation  of  republican  principles,  let  him  vote 
a  fainst.it.  A  Senator  who  meant  to  vote  for  a  bill. 

O  7 

ought  not  to  speak  of  it  in  that  way,  and  seek  to 
get  credit  before  the  country  of  having  advocated 
some  things  higher  and  better  than  the  Senate  was 
willing  to  adopt.  If  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts 
voted  against  the  bill  he  took  no  responsibility,  but 
if  the  Senator  was  for  the  bill,  was  it  fair  to  send 
Senators  before  the  country  branded  as  voting  for 
a  bill  to  create  governments  born  of  the  bayonet 
He  did  not  want  that  admission  to  bind  him,  for  at 
each  step  of  the  process  the  Southern  people  had 
an  opportunity  to  vote  fairly  and  freely,  and  he 
intended  to  deny,  when  it  came  from  the  Copper 
heads  at  the  coming  elections,  that  the  State  gov 
ernments  were  born  of  the  bayonet.  Mr.  Morton 
intended  to  vote  for  the  amendment,  as  he  regarded 
it  as  a  fundamental  condition.  The  education  of 
the  Southern  people  was  essential  to  reconstruction. 
"I  shall"  said  Mr.  Conness,  "content  myself  with 
voting  against  this  amendment  proposed,  without 
giving  the  reason  why  at  this  hour ;  but  since  the 
bill  before  the  Senate  for  which  I  intend  to  vote  has 
been  arraigned  here  as  a  provision  for  producing 
States  to  be  born  of  the  bayonet,  and  as  I  in  part 
represent  a  State  which  was  literally  born  of  a  mili 
tary  order,  not  of  the  bayonet,  though  perhaps  as 


422  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

much  born  of  the  bayonet  as  any  of  the  States  which 
will  be  organized  under  this  act  and  the  act  to  which 
it  is  supplementary,  will  be  so  born)  the  accusation 
or  denunciation  comes  home  to  me.  The  civil  gov 
ernment  of  the  State  of  California  was  the  product 
of  a  military  order ;  and  it  is  not  now  less  free,  it 
is  not  less  generous,  it  is  not  less  courageous,  it  is 
not  less  patriotic  for  that  reason."  The  debate  was 
further  continued  by  Mr.  Hendricks,  Mr.  Sumner, 
Mr.  Cole  and  Mr.  Buckalew.  The  question  was  then 
taken  on  the  amendment,  and  it  was  rejected. — 
Yeas  20,  nays  20. 

All  of  the  House  bill  after  the  enacting  clause 
was  stricken  out,  and  the  amendment  reported  by  the 
Judiciary  Committee  and  amended  by  the  Senate, 
was  agreed  to  without  a  division.  On  motion  of 
Mr.  Wilson  the  yeas  and  nays  were  then  taken  on 
the  passage  of  the  bill,  and  it  was  passed. — Yeas  38, 
nays  2. 

The  House  of  Kepresentatives,  on  the  18th,  pro 
ceeded  to  the  consideration  of  the  bill.  Mr.  Wilson 
of  Iowa,  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  the  Judi 
ciary,  said  he  was  directed  by  the  committee  to  con 
cur  in  the  amendments  of  the  Senate  with  amend 
ments.  He  then  moved  to  amend  the  oath  by  ad 
ding:  "That  I  have  never  been  a  member  of  any 
State  Legislature,  nor  held  any  executive  or  judicial 
office  in  any  State,  and  afterward  engaged  in  insur- ~ 
rection  or  rebellion  against  the  United  States  or 
given  aid  or  comfort  to  the  enemies  thereof." 


IN    CONGRESS.  423 

Mr.  Stevens  said  that  the  State  of  Virginia  in 
1849,  in  anticipation  of  the  rebellion,  repealed  all 
laws  requiring  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United 
States,  and  he  asked  if  this  amendment  was  not  in 
tended  to  supply  that  defect.  Mr.  Wilson  replied 
that  that  was  the  purpose  of  the  amendment.  The 
amendment  was  then  agreed  to.  It  was  then  moved 
by  Mr.  Wilson  to  amend  the  bill  by  striking  out 
that  provision  requiring  that  one-half  of  the  reg 
istered  voters  should  vote  upon  the  question  of 
ratification.  Mr.  Wilson  said  the  object  was  to  re 
store  that  provision  of  the  bill  to  the  same  condi 
tion  in  which  it  went  to  the  Senate.  The  House 
provision  required  that  the  constitution  should  be 
ratified  by  a  majority  of  the  registered  voters.  The 
amendment  was  agreed  to. — Yeas  98,  nays  29.  Mr. 
Wilson  then  moved  to  amend  the  sixth  section  of 
the  Senate  amendment  so  as  to  provide  that  any 
person  who  should  knowingly  and  falsely  take  any 
oath  prescribed  in  the  act,  should  be  subject  to  the 
pains,  penalties,  and  disabilities  of  wilful  and  cor 
rupt  perjury.  The  Senate  amendment  as  amended 
by  the  House  was  agreed  to. 

The  Senate  on  the  18th  proceeded  to  the  con 
sideration  of  the  amendments  of  the  House  to  the 
amendment  of  the  Senate,  and  the  first  amendment 
making  an  addition  to  the  oath  was  concurred  in. 
The  second  amendment  requiring  a  majority  of  all 
the  registered  voters  to  adopt  a  constitution  was 
then  considered.  Mr.  Trumbull  said  that  the  Com- 


424  RECONSTRUCTION  MEASURES 

mittee  on  the  Judiciary  had  originally  reported  the 
bill  in  that  form,  but  the  discussion  had  satisfied 
him  that  its  adoption  would  not  be  in  favor  of  the 
policy  of  reconstruction.  Mr.  Sherman  agreed  with 
Mr.  Trumbull  as  to  the  propriety  of  the  modifica 
tion  made  by  the  House,  but  if  the  constitution 
fairly  represented  the  will  of  the  people,  Congress 
could  waive  the  condition.  Mr.  Sumner  hoped 
there  would  be  no  understanding  that  hereafter  we 
were  to  waive  what  we  now  required.  Mr.  Willey 
of  West  Virginia  thought  the  amendment  settled 
the  question  of  reconstruction  by  leaving  the  States 
as  they  were.  Under  that  proposition  the  seces 
sion  element  in  the  South,  those  who  want  no  re 
construction,  those  who  want  to  keep  the  Union 
element  in  the  South  still  under  their  feet  and  the 
ban  of  their  oppression,  could  accomplish  it  simply 
by  non-action,  and  they  would  do  it.  He  said, 
"the  bill,  if  passed  as  it  is,  settles  the  question,  not 
of  reconstruction,  but  of  non-reconstruction.  You 
will  have  no  practical  relations  restored  to  the  gov 
ernments  of  the  Southern  States  under  the  operation 
of  this  bill."  Mr.  Wilson  thought  the  amendment  was 
in  the  interest  of  those  who  were  opposed  to  re 
construction  on  the  terms  and  conditions  of  Con 
gress.  The  measure  was  introduced  to  carry  into 
effect  the  act  of  the  last  Congress  in  favor  of  recon 
struction. 

"We  know,"  said  Mr.  Wilson,  "that  this  measure 
was  proposed  by  the  friends  of  the  country  and  of 


IN    CONGRESS.  425 

the  equal  rights  of  all  men,  the  friends  of  enfran 
chising  the  black  man  and  of  weaponing  his  hand 
for  defense ;  the  friends  of  taking  the  governments 
of  these  rebel  States  out  of  the  hands  of  their  rebel 
possessors,  and  giving  the  whole  people,  including 
the  seven  hundred  thousand  enfranchised  black 
men,  the  right  to  reconstruct  their  own  local  gov 
ernments,  and  to  fill  those  governments  with  truly 
loyal  men. 

*######::*: 

The  proposition  is  the  most  extraordinary  propo 
sition  that  ever  emanated  from  a  body  of  practical 
or  sensible  men.  It  is  a  proposition  to  enable  the 
rebel  leaders  to  take  advantage  of  all  the  persons 
who  are  hostile  to  these  terms  and  all  the  persons 
who  cannot  go  to  the  polls  to  vote." 

Mr.  Johnson  concurred  with  Mr.  Wilson  in  think 
ing  that  if  the  amendment  was  sanctioned  the 
whole  measure  would  be  defeated.  He  thought  if 
the  bill  passed  in  the  form  in  which  it  passed  the 
Senate,  it  would  be  accepted.  Mr.  Drake  expressed 
the  opinion  that  the  amendment  of  the  House  of 
Kepresentatives  would  be  a  fatal  obstacle  in  several 
of  the  Southern  States,  to  the  whole  plan  of  recon 
struction.  Mr.  Morton  entered  his  protest  against 
this  amendment  made  by  the  House  of  Represent 
atives.  He  agreed  entirely  in  the  declaration  that 
the  amendment  was  in  the  interest  of  rebels  who 
were  opposed  to  reconstruction.  The  debate  was 
continued  by  Mr.  Saulsbury,  Mr.  Wilson  and  Mr. 


426  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

Edmunds,  and  the  question  was  then  taken  on  con 
curring  in  the  amendment,  and  it  was  non-concur 
red  in. — Yeas  21,  nays  24.  The  Senate  then  con 
curred  in  the  House  amendment  providing  a  pun 
ishment  for  any  person  who  should  falsely  and 
knowingly  take  any  oath  prescribed  in  the  bill. 

In  the  House  on  the  19th  the  bill  was  taken  up, 
and  Mr.  Wilson  moved  that  the  House  insist  on  its 
amendments  and  request  a  committee  of  confer 
ence.  Mr.  Bingham  of  Ohio  moved  that  the  House 
recede  from  its  amendments,  but  the  motion  was 
lost. — Yeas  62,  nays  78.  The  House  then  insisted 
on  its  amendments,  asked  a  committee  of  confer 
ence,  and  Mr.  Wilson  of  Iowa,  Mr.  Boutwell  of  Mas 
sachusetts  and  Mr.  Marshall  of  Illinois  were  ap 
pointed  conferees  on  the  part  of  the  House. 

The  Senate,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Trmnbull,  insisted 
on  its  amendments  and  agreed  to  the  committee  of 
conference,  and  Mr.  Trumbull,  Mr.  Wilson  and  Mr. 
Buckalew  were  appointed  conferees  on  the  part  of 
the  Senate. 

In  the  House  on  the  same  day,  Mr.  Wilson  of 
Iowa,  from  the  committee  of  conference  on  the  part 
of  the  House,  reported  that  the  Senate  recede  from 
its  disagreement  to  the  second  amendment  of  the 
House  and  agree  to  the  same ;  that  the  House  re 
cede  from  its  amendment  to  the  third  amendment 
of  the  Senate,  and  agree  to  the  same  with  the 
following  amendment,  providing  that  "if  it  shall 
moreover  appear  to  Congress  that  the  election  was 


IN    CONGRESS.  427 

one  at  which  all  the  registered  and  qualified  voters 
in  the  State  had  an  opportunity  to  vote  freely  and 
without  restraint,  fear,  or  the  influence  of  fraud, 
and  if  Congress  shall  be  satisfied  that  such  con 
stitution  meets  the  approval  of  a  majority  of  all 
the  qualified  electors  in  the  State,  and  that  the 
Senate  agree  to  the  same."  Mr.  Wilson  said  the 
effect  of  the  amendment  was,  that  after  the  ratifica 
tion  of  the  constitution  by  the  electors,  Congress 
should  have  the  power  to  declare  whether  that  elec 
tion  was  a  fair  one  and  whether  the  constitution 
met  the  approval  of  a  majority  of  the  electors  of 
the  State. 

Mr.  Williams  of  Pennsylvania  desired  to  know 
whether  the  effect  of  this  surrender  on  the  part  of 
the  House  was  not  to  take  the  opinion  of  Congress 
rather  than  the  evidence  of  the  record  of  the  votes. 
Mr.  Stevens  said  that  when  the  bill  went  to  the  com 
mittee  of  conference  it  required  a  majority  of  the 
registered  voters,  but  when  it  came  back  from  the 
committee  it  required  only  a  majority  of  those  who 
voted.  Mr.  Marshall  had  signed  the  report  of  the 
committee  for  the  reason  that  he  preferred  the  plan 
adopted  by  the  committee  to  that  proposed  by  the 
House.  Mr.  Eldridge  of  Wisconsin  moved  that  the 
report  of  the  committee  be  laid  upon  the  table,  but 
the  motion  was  lost. — Yeas  26,  nays  101.  The  re 
port  of  the  committee  of  conference  was  then 
agreed  to, 

In  the  Senate,  Mr,  Trumbull  from  the  committee 


428  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

of  conference  made  a  report,  and  after  explanatory 
remarks  by  him  and  Mr.  Buckalew,  showing  that  on 
the  vital  point  the  House  had  assented  to  the  posi 
tion  of  the  Senate,  the  report  was  concurred  in. 

On  the  23d  a  message  was  received  from  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  returning  the  bill 
with  his  objections  to  its  becoming  a  law.  The  ques 
tion  was  then  taken  on  the  passage  of  the  bill  not 
withstanding  the  objections  of  the  President,  and 
resulted — Yeas  114,  nays  25.  On  the  same  day  the 
question  was  taken  in  the  Senate  by  yeas  and  nays 
and  resulted — Yeas  40,  nays  7.  Two-thirds  of  each 
house  having  passed  the  bill,  it  became  a  law,  the 
objections  of  the  President  to  the  contrary  not 
withstanding. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

GOVERNMENT  AND  RESTORATION  OF  REBEL  STATES. 

Mr.  Wilson's  Bill— Mr.  Edmunds'  Bill.— Mr.  Frelinghuysen's  Bill— Mr. 
Trumbull  reported  bill  from  Judiciary  Committee. — House. — Committee 
appointed  on  motion  of  Mr.  Stevens. — Mr.  Stevens'  Bill.  Mr.  Wilson's 
amendment. — Mr.  Benjamin's  amendment. — Passage  of  the  Bill. — Senate. 
— Bill  reported  by  Mr.  Trumbull. — Mr.  Wilson's  amendment. — Remarks 
of  Mr.  Conkling,  Mr.  Edmunds,  Mr.  Howe. — Mr.  Wilson's  amendment. — 
Remarks  of  Mr.  Yates,  Mr.  Wilson,  Mr.  Morrill,  Mr.  Howard.— Mr.  Wil 
son's  amendment. — Motion  of  Mr.  Howe.— Mr.  Drake's  amendment. — 
Mr.  Howard's  amendment  agreed  to. — Passage  of  the  Bill. — House. — 
Report  of  Mr.  Stevens. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Wood,  Mr.  Logan. — The  Senate 
amendment  concurred  in. — President's  Veto  Message. — Remarks  of  Mr. 
Boutwell,  Mr.  Butler,  Mr.  Stevens. — Passage  of  the  Bill  over  the  Veto. 

THE  40th  Congress,  like  its  predecessor,  distrusted 
the  faith  and  intentions  of  President  Johnson. 
After  passing  the  Bill  amendatory  of  the  act  for 
the  better  government  of  the  Rebel  States,  and  to 
facilitate  restoration,  Congress  resolved  not  to  ad 
journ  but  to  take  a  recess.  It  passed  a  concurrent 
Resolution  to  meet  on  the  3d  of  July,  and  authorized 
the  presiding  officers  of  the  two  Houses  to  adjourn 
to  the  first  Monday  of  December,  if  a  quorum  did 
not  assemble  on  that  day.  Having  provided  for  the 
reassembling  of  Congress  if  the  exigencies  of  the 


430  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

country  required  it,  that  body  took  a  recess  on  the 
30th  of  March.  The  admirable  workings  of  the 
reconstruction  acts,  indicated  that  there  would  be 
no  meeting  of  Congress  if  those  acts  were  in  no 
way  interfered  with.  But  the  construction  put 
upon  these  acts  by  Attorney  General  Stansbury, 
created  much  anxiety  and  made  the  meeting  of 
Congress  in  the  opinion  of  loyal  people  North  and 
South  a  necessity.  At  noon  on  the  3d  of  July  Con 
gress  assembled,  and  having  a  quorum,  proceeded  to 
business. 

Mr.  Wilson  of  Massachusetts  introduced  a  bill  in 
addition  to  the  act  passed  March  2d,  1867,  to  provide 
for  the  more  efficient  government  of  the  rebel  States, 
and  the  act  supplementary  thereto  passed  March 
23d,  1867.  It  provided  that  all  offices  held  under 
the  authority  of  any  of  the  pretended  State  gov 
ernments  should  be  declared  vacated  at  the  expira 
tion  of  thirty  days  from  the  passage  of  the  act,  and 
that  the  commanding  generals  should  be  authorized 
to  continue  any  persons,  who  might  have  been  dis 
charging  the  duties  of  such  offices,  or  appoint  other 
persons  to  perform  the  duties  of  such  offices :  That 
the  boards  of  registration  should  have  power  to 
refuse  to  admit  to  register  any  persons  who  they 
might  have  just  grounds  to  believe  were  seeking  to 
evade  the  requirements  of  the  laws,  and  they  should 
have  power  to  examine  applicants  for  registration, 
and  to  receive  testimony  in  regard  to  the  qualifica 
tions  of  persons  applying  to  be  registered ;  and  at 


IN   CONGRESS.  431 

any  time  within  twenty  days  after  completion  of 
registration  they  should  be  empowered,  upon  pro 
duction  of  proof  sufficient  to  satisfy  themselves  that 
the  name  of  any  person  who  had  been  registered 
had  been  fraudulently  inserted  upon  the  lists  of 
registration,  to  erase  the  name  of  such  person  from 
the  list, 

Mr.  Edmunds  of  Vermont  introduced  a  bill  in 
explanation  of  the  act  to  provide  for  the  more  effi 
cient  government  of  the  rebel  States.  It  provided 
that  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  that  act  was, 
is  and  should  be  considered  to  be  that  the  military 
authority  of  the  United  States  in-  the  rebel  States 
was  and  is  paramount  to  any  civil  government ;  that 
the  commander  of  any  district  should  have  power, 
subject  to  the  approval  of  the  general  of  the  armies 
of  the  United  States,  to  suspend  or  remove  from 
office  any  officer  or  person  holding  any  civil  or 
military  office,  and  should  fill  their  places  by  detail 
of  some  competent  officer  or  soldier  of  the  army ; 
that  the  general  of  the  army  should  be  invested 
with  all  powers  of  suspension,  removal  and  appoint 
ment  granted  to  district  commanders ;  that  the  acts 
of  officers  of  the  army  in  removing  officers  and 
appointing  others  should  be  ratified,  confirmed  and 
legalized. 

Mr.  Drake  of  Missouri  introduced  a  bill  consisting 
of  twelve  sections,  further  to  provide  for  the  recon 
struction  of  the  rebel  States.  This  bill  proposed  to 
set  aside  the  provisional  governments  and  to  author- 


432  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

ize  the  commanding  general  of  each  military  district 
to  fill  the  vacated  offices  from  persons  who  had 
never  been  engaged  in  insurrection  against  the 
government ;  that  neither  the  commander-in-chief 
of  the  army  nor  any  officer  subordinate  to  him 
should  have  power  to  issue  orders  to  the  command 
ing  generals  of  the  districts,  and  that  no  district 
commander  should  be  removed  unless  the  Senate 
should  first  have  advised  and  consented  to  such 
removal — that  the  time  for  registration  might  be 
extended  to  November,  and  that  the  State  Consti 
tutions,  when  formed,  should  provide  that  all  elec 
tions  should  be  by  ballot ;  that  every  citizen  of  a 
State  owed  paramount  allegiance  to  the  United 
States ;  that  such  State  should  ever  remain  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Union,  and  no  law  or  ordinance  of  such 
State  in  contravention  of  the  laws  of  the  United 
States  should  have  any  binding  force. 

Mr.  Frelinghuysen  of  New  Jersey  introduced  a 
bill  further  supplementary  to  the  act  to  provide  for 
the  more  efficient  government  of  the  rebel  States. 
This  act  provided  that  the  act  to  which  it  was  a 
supplement  and  the  former  supplement  thereto, 
should  be  continued  to  authorize  the  officers 
assigned  to  the  command  of  any  military  district 
to  remove  or  suspend  from  office  any  person  exer 
cising  any  authority  under  any  so-called  State  gov 
ernment,  and  to  appoint  another  person  instead, 
and  it  authorized  the  officer  assigned  to  the  com 
mand  of  any  military  district,  to  suspend  or  set 


IN    CONGRESS.  433 

aside  any  action  of  any  provisional  State  govern 
ment,  and  it  legalized  all  acts  theretofore  done  by 
any  officer. 

On  the  8th  of  July,  Mr.  Trumbull  reported  a  bill 
from  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary,  to  give  effect 
to  an  act  entitled  "An  act  to  provide  for  the  more 
efficient  government  of  the  rebel  States,  passed 
March  second,  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-seven.  It 
declared  the  meaning  of  that  act  to  be,  to  make  the 
rebel  provisional  government  subordinate  to  military 
authority :  it  authorized  the  commander  of  any  dis 
trict,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  General  of  the 
army,  to  suspend  or  remove  persons  from  office,  and 
to  detail  competent  officers  or  soldiers  of  the  army 
to  perform  the  duties  of  such  offices,  legalized  the 
acts  of  army  officers  in  removals  previously  made, 
conferred  upon  the  General  of  the  army  the  power 
of  suspension  and  removal,  authorized  the  boards 
of  registration  to  examine  persons  under  oath  touch 
ing  their  qualifications  for  registration,  declared  the 
true  intent  and  meaning  of  the  oath  in  the  supple 
mentary  act  to  be  to  include  all  civil  officers  created 
by  law  for  the  administration  of  the  general  laws 
of  a  State,  and  authorized  the  district  commanders 
to  extend  the  time  for  registration  to  the  first  of 
October. 

The  House  of  Representatives  on  the  3d  of  July, 

on  motion  of  Mr.  Stevens,  voted  that  a  committee 

of  nine  should  be  appointed  to  inquire  what  further 

legislation  if  any  was  required  respecting  the  recon-. 

28 


434  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

struction  acts.  Mr.  Stevens  of  Pennsylvania,  Mr. 
Boutwell  of  Massachusetts,  Mr.  Bingham  of  Ohio, 
Mr.  Farnsworth  of  Illinois,  Mr.  Hulburd  of  New 
York,  Mr.  Beaman  of  Michigan,  Mr.  Paine  of  Wis 
consin,  Mr.  Pike  of  Maine,  and  Mr.  Brooks  of  New 
York  were  appointed  members  of  the  committee. 
On  the  8th  of  July,  Mr.  Stevens  from  the  special 
committee  on  reconstruction,  reported  a  bill  supple 
mentary  to  an  act  entitled  "An  act  to  provide  for 
the  more  efficient  government  of  the  rebel  States," 
and  the  act  supplementary  thereto.  It  declared  the 
true  intent  and  meaning  of  those  acts,  and  provided 
that  no  district  commander  should  be  relieved  unless 
with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  and  the 
time  for  registration  should  be  extended  to  the  first 
.of  October.  Amendments  were  suggested  by  Mr. 
Ashley  of  Ohio,  Mr.  Wilson  of  Iowa,  Mr.  Burr,  Mr. 
Benjamin,  and  Mr.  Raum.  Mr.  Wood  of  New  York 
appealed  to  Mr.  Stevens  not  to  deprive  the  minority 
©f  all  opportunity  to  discuss  the  bill.  Mr.  Brooks 
of  New  York  expressed  a  desire  to  make  a  minority 
report,  but  consent  was  not  granted.  Mr.  Chanler 
of  New  York  said  it  was  the  painful  duty  of  the 
minority  on  that  floor  to  raise  the  continued  voice 
of  complaint  against  cold-hearted  and  party  legisla 
tion.  Their  action  had  been  step  by  step,  by  crooked 
and  indirect  paths  to  crawl  crab-like  half  backward, 
half  sideways  over  the  whole  subject,  without 
advancing  at  all  in  the  direction  of  reconstruction, 
but  steadily  advancing  to  the  grand  central  point 


IN    CONGRESS.  435 

of  a  centralized  military  despotism.  He  was  fol 
lowed  by  Mr.  Hunger  of  Ohio,  in  a  speech  upon  the 
different  races  of  men.  He  admitted  the  humanity 
of  the  negro ;  that  they  were  men,  not  monkeys,  but 
denied  the  "brotherhood." 

On  the  9th  the  House  resumed  the  consideration 
of  the  bill,  and  Mr.  Brooks  of  New  York  made  an 
elaborate  speech  in  opposition  to  it.  He  charg 
ed  that  the  Eepublican  party  was  entering  upon  a 
new  mission,  into  fresh  crusades,  not  for  the  emanci 
pation  of  four  million  blacks,  but  for  the  enslave 
ment  of  eight  millions  of  whites  of  their  own  kith, 
kin,  color,  and  physical  organization.  He  charged 
that  the  work  to  be  completed  by  the  bill  was  the 
complete  annulment  of  the  Federal  Constitution, 
the  end  of  what  Garrison  had  begun  twenty-four 
years  ago  in  Faneuil  Hall.  There  \vas  no  parallel 
in  history  for  the  bill  but  that  of  the  infamous  con 
duct  of  the  J)uke  of  Alva  in  Spain.  "I  deprecate," 
he  said,  "the  passage  of  this  bill  in  its  effect  upon 
the  people  of  the  southern  country.  Far  better 
would  it  be  for  that  land,  from  the  Potomac  to  the 
Rio  Grande,  to  be  as  it  was  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years  ago,  a  howling  wilderness,  than  to  be  subject 
ed  to  the  amalgamation  of  races  which  you  are  pro 
posing  in  this  bill." 

Mr.  Brooks  was  followed  by  Mr.  Wood  of  New 
York  in  opposition  to  the  bill.  He  warned  the  ma 
jority  to  remember  that  precedents  were  now  be 
ing  established  in  a  Government  founded  upon 


436  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

popular  opinion,  liable  to  the  impulses  of  tho  peo 
ple,  surging  backward  and  forward  from  one  ex 
treme  to  the  other,  to  remember  that  in  a  popular 
government  where  the  people  after  all  would  con 
trol,  the  poisoned  chalice  might  be  returned  to  the 
lips  of  those  who  now  presented  it  to  the  people 
of  the  South.  "  God  forbid,"  exclaimed  Mr.  Wood, 
"that  any  party  should  succeed  this  one,  who  would 
follow  their  outrageous,  inhuman,  brutal  and  bloody 
example."  Mr.  Schenck  moved  to  amend  the  bill 
so  as  to  provide  that  all  persons  should  be  con 
sidered  in  the  military  and  naval  service  as  officers 
from  the  date  of  their  being  borne  on  their  respec 
tive  army  and  navy  registers.  Mr.  Baker  of  Illi 
nois  moved  that  all  the  provisions  of  this  act  and 
of  the  acts  to  which  it  was  supplementary,  should 
be  construed  liberally,  to  the  end  that  all  the  in 
tents  of  those  acts  might  be  perfectly  carried  out. 
Amendments  were  suggested  by  Mr.  Butler  of  Mas 
sachusetts  and  Mr.  Cob  urn  of  Indiana. 

Mr.  Bingham  of  Ohio,  in  reply  to  Mr.  Brooks, 
said:  "The  honorable  gentleman  has  spoken  elo 
quently  of  the  ancient  time  ;  he  has  dwelt  upon  the 
dead  past  and  forgotten  the  living  present ;  he  has 
spoken  in  classic  phrase  of  Salamis  and  Platsea,  of 
Marathon  and  Thermopylae,  the  glorious  recollec 
tions  of  which  he  has  garnered  up  and  reproduced 
for  our  instruction,  but  he  has  forgotten,  sadly  for- 
gotten,  the  imperishable  memories  dear  to  the 
thinking  head  and  beating  heart  of  the  loyal  mill- 


IN    CONGRESS.  437 

ions  of  this  land,  which  rise  from  the  fields  of 
Shiloh  and  Stone  river,  from  Chickamauga  and  Ken- 
esaw,  from  Antietain  and  Gettysburg.  'Ay,  the 
gentleman  can  speak  of  the  perished  republics  of 
pagan  antiquity,  of  their  trials  and  triumphs,  but  is 
forgetful  of  the  grander,  nobler,  and  more  enduring 
triumphs  of  republican  America,  the  living  and  we 
trust  enduring  hope  of  the  world." 

Mr.  Eldridge  of  Wisconsin  said  :  "This  bill  is  at 
war  with  every  principle  that  underlies  this  Gov 
ernment,  and  at  war  with  every  principle  of  civil 
liberty  intended  to  be  secured  by  our  Constitution. 
It  surrenders  and  destroys  Magna  Charta,  whether 
American  or  British,  and  loads  down  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  with  a  load  of  chains  and  oppressions  that  no 
Anglo-Saxon  can  bear  without  dishonor,  without 
disgrace.  It  makes  a  continuous  war  upon  a  people 
who  have  been  overthrown  and  disarmed,  and  holds 
them  in  the  grasp  of  military  power  in  time  of 
peace,  without  right,  without  justice,  and  in  a  man 
ner  never  resorted  to,  except  for  purposes  of  pun 
ishment  to  harass  and  distress  an  enemy." 

Mr.  Eldridge  denounced  General  Sheridan  as  the 
"harlequin"  of  the  Louisiana  department,  pro 
claimed  his  letter  to  General  Grant,  in  which  that 
officer  declared  that  the  Attorney  General's  inter 
pretation  of  the  reconstruction  acts  would  open  a 
broad  macadamized  road  for  perjury  and  fraud  to 
travel  on,  to  be  an  act  of  insubordination  that  must 
forever  disgrace  its  author,  and  unless  apologized 


438  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

for,  should  banish  him  from  the  military  service  at 
once  and  forever."  Debate  upon  the  bill  was  then 
closed  by  Mr.  Stevens.  Mr.  Wilson  of  Iowa  moved 
to  so  amend  the  bill  that  any  person  or  persons  who 
should  prevent  or  attempt  to  prevent  the  execution 
of  this  act  or  of  either  of  the  acts  to  which  this  act 
was  supplementary,  should  be  deemed  guilty  of  a 
misdemeanor,  and  the  amendment  was  agreed  to. 
It  was  then  moved  by  Mr.  Benjamin  of  Wisconsin 
that  the  bill  be  so  amended  as  to  declare  that  the 
right  of  any  person  to  be  registered  as  a  legal  voter 
should  in  no  respect  be  changed  by  any  pardon 
granted  by  the  President  of  the  United  States  to 
such  person  for  participation  in  rebellion,  and  the 
amendment  was  agreed  to.  The  bill  was  then  passed. 
—Yeas  119,  nays  31. 

The  Senate  on  the  9th  proceeded  to  the  consider 
ation  of  the  bill  reported  by  the  Judiciary  Com 
mittee,  and  Mr.  Trumbull,  chairman  of  that  commit 
tee,  proceeded  to  address  the  Senate  in  an  elaborate 
speech  in  explanation  of  its  provisions.  He  said 
the  necessity  for  legislation  grew  out  of  what  was 
conceived  to  be  a  misconstruction  of  the  recon 
struction  acts.  Properly  interpreted  and  carried 
out  in  the  spirit  in  which  they  were  conceived,  it 
was  believed  that  no  additional  legislation  would 
have  been  necessary.  He  examined  and  replied  to 
the  opinions  of  the  Attorney  General,  and  closed 
by  declaring  his  belief  that  the  Constitution  con- 
ferred  upon  the  Government  all  the  powers  neces- 


IN   CONGRESS,  439 

sary  to  be  exercised  for  its  preservation,  and  that  it 
conferred  no  power  more  clearly  than  that  to  make 
war,  put  down  insurrection  and  rebellion,  and  gov 
ern  rebels  who  had  destroyed  all  civil  authority  in 
a  State  through  the  military  power,  until  sufficient 
time  should  be  given  to  re-establish  a  civil  govern 
ment  loyal  to  the  Union.  Mr.  Wilson  moved  to 
strike  out  the  second  section  of  the  bill  reported  by 
the  Judiciary  Committee,  and  insert  a  section  pro 
viding  that  all  offices  held  under  the  pretended 
authority  of  any  of  the  rebel  State  governments, 
should  be  declared  vacant  at  the  expiration  of 
thirty  days  from  the  passage  of  the  act ;  and  the 
commanding  generals  of  the  military  districts  should 
be  authorized  to  continue  in  office  any  person  who, 
before  the  expiration  of  the  said  thirty  days,  might 
have  been  discharging  the  duties  of  such  office,  or 
might  appoint  other  persons  to  perform  the  duties 
of  any  of  the  offices. 

"I  had  hoped,"  said  Mr.  Wilson,  "that  when  we 
came  together  we  would  do  what  we  ought  to  have 
done  a  long  while  ago — vacate  the  offices  in  these 
rebel  States.  I  think  the  great  mistake  of  the 
President  was  in  allowing  the  offices  in  these  States 
to  pass  into  the  hands  of  disloyal  men,  The  effects 
have  been  most  disastrous  to  the  country." 

He  said  the  reconstruction  acts  had  been  of  in 
calculable  benefit  to  the  loyal  men  of  the  South, 
but  those  loyal  men  demanded,  and  they  had  a 
right  to  demand,  that  the  offices  should  not  be  filled 


440  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

by  men  hostile  to  the  policy  of  reconstruction.  lie 
would  turn  out  the  fifteen  thousand  office  holders 
in  the  South,  and  would  put  the  true  friends  of  the 
country  in  their  places.  Mr.  Wilson  objected  to  the 
provision  of  the  bill  requiring  officers  to  be  detailed 
to  perform  the  duties  of  persons  who  might  be  re 
moved,  as  there  were  loyal  men  in  the  south  com 
petent  to  fill  those  offices,  and  the  government  had 
not  army  officers  to  detail.  Mr.  Conkling  and  Mr. 
Edmunds,  members  of  the  Judiciary  Committee, 
questioned  the  power  of  the  government  to  author 
ize  the  military  cfornmanders  to  appoint  civilians. 
Mr.  Wilson  said  that  the  bill  legalized  the  civil  ap 
pointments  already  made  by  the  military  command 
ers,  and  if  it  had  power  to  legalize  such  appoint 
ments,  it  must  surely  have  the  power  to  authorize 
such  appointments  to  be  made.  Mr.  Trumbull  said 
the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary  did  not  feel  at  lib 
erty  to  depart  from  the  original  reconstruction 
measure.  Mr.  Frelinghuysen  thought  it  would  be 
a  disturbing  revolutionary  movement,  at  that  crisis 
at  the  South,  to  make  a  general  and  sweeping  re 
moval  of  fifteen  thousand  officers.  The  proposition 
to  vacate  those  offices,  when  the  original  bill  was 
under  consideration,  was  made  by  Mr.  Wilson  and 
voted  down. 

Mr.  Howe  of  Wisconsin  rose,  he  said,  "mainly  to 
remonstrate  against  the  attempt  to  deny  the  au 
thority  of  Congress  to  do  what  we  are  invoked  to 
do  by  the  amendment  offered  by  the  Senator  from 


IN   CONGRESS.  441 

Massachusetts,  because  when  you  have  established 
the  fact  that  we  cannot  do  that,  I  am  as  firmly  con 
vinced  as  I  am  of  anything  that  we  cannot  do  any 
thing  which  we  are  asked  to  do  in  the  bill  reported 
here  by  the  Judiciary  Committee." 

Mr.  Drake  thought  it  was  the  higher  officers  in 
the  rebel  States  that  were  doing  mischief,  and  he 
was  in  favor  of  their  removal,  but  he  did  not  think 
it  expedient  to  remove  all  the  officers,  and  he  should 
therefore  vote  against  the  amendment.  Mr.  Buck- 
ale  w  referred  to  the  fact  that  the  Senate  rejected 
Mr.  Wilson's  amendment  vacating  the  offices  in  the 
rebel  States,  as  one  of  a  series  of  facts  that  might 
be  cited  to  prove  that  at  the  time  the  original  bill 
was  passed  it  was  not  intended  that  the  five  mili 
tary  commanders  should  assume  the  imperial  power 
of  displacing  officers  and  of  substituting  appointees 
of  their  own.  The  vote  was  then  taken  on  Mr. 
Wilson's  amendment,  ana  it  was  rejected. — Yeas  11, 
nays  21.  By  the  second  section  of  the  bill,  mili 
tary  commanders  were  authorized  to  suspend  or 
remove  civil  officers  and  to  detail  officers  or  soldiers 
of  the  army  to  fill  their  places.  Mr.  Wilson  moved 
to  amend  the  bill  by  authorizing  the  commanders 
to  appoint  other  persons  to  perform  the  duties  of 
the  persons  removed.  Mr.  Edmunds  opposed  the 
amendment.  He  said  that  the  government  which 
had  been  deliberately  adopted  in  those  regions  was 
the  government  of  the  sword;  the  just  and  righteous 
government  of  the  sword  until  peace  should  have 


442  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

time  to  heal  the  disrupted  condition  of  society 
there,  and  he  thought  it  indispensable  that  the 
agencies  should  be  of  the  military  power.  The 
army  governed,  and  when  the  army  governed  it 
must  govern  by  its  own  agencies  and  by  its  own 
officers  or  soldiers. 

The  amendment  was  briefly  advocated  by  Mr. 
Yates  of  Illinois.  "I  am/'  he  said,  "for  employing 
the  right  men  to  do  the  right  thing.  When  we 
wish  to  do  a  military  act,  when  we  wish  to  fight 
battles,  when  we  wish  to  carry  our  banner  over  the 
field  of  contest  in  war,  or  to  do  any  other  military 
duty,  I  want  a  military  man  to  do  it ;  but  when  the 
duties  of  civil  offices  are  to  be  discharged,  I  want 
any  man  who  is  competent,  whether  he  be  a  civilian 
or  a  military  man.  All  over  the  South  there  are 
loyal  men,  men  who  have  been  true  to  the  Govern- 
men,  civilians  of  great  distinction,  men  who  are 
fully  equal  to  these  duties,  as  has  been  stated  by 
the  honorable  Senator  from  Massachusetts.  I  want 
such  men  appointed  to  discharge  them." 

Mr.  Wilson  said  that  the  position  taken  by  Mr. 
Edmunds,  if  acted  on  by  Congress,  would  plainly 
say  to  the  country  that  General  Pope  and  General 
Sheridan  had  acted  without  authority;  had  exer 
cised  a  power  they  did  not  possess,  and  a  power 
that  Congress  declined  to  authorize  them  to  exer 
cise  thereafter.  Mr.  Edmunds  and  Mr.  Conkling 
spoke  in  opposition  to  the  amendment.  Mr.  Mer 
rill  of  Maine  said  that  if  he  understood  the  bill  it 


IN   CONGRESS.  443 

went  upon  the  theory  that  the  State  governments 
were  absolutely  overthrown,  and  he  thought  the 
authority  the  Government  exercised  there  might 
be  purely  military  or  military  and  civil.  The  bill 
authorized  the  military  government  to  exercise  its 
functions  through  the  employment  of  civil  agents, 
and  if  the  military  power  could  employ  civil  agents 
who  happened  to  be  in  office,  it  could  remove  those 
agents  and  appoint  others. 

On  the  10th,  Mr.  Howard  resumed  the  debate. 
He  said  that  "the  President,  suddenly  elevated  to 
his  high  position  by  the  assassination  of  the  Presi 
dent  elected  by  the  people,  acting  under  the  influ 
ence  of  bad  principles  and  bad  advice,  and  seizing 
upon  a  most  critical  state  of  affairs  produced  by  the 
surrender  of  the  rebel  armies,  took  upon  himself 
the  task  of  State-maker  for  the  ten  rebellious  States, 
now  devoid  of  all  State  rights  and  privileges,  and, 
as  he  himself  had  often  declared,  lying  so  many 
heaps  of  shapeless  political  ruins.  He  assumed,  of 
his  own  will  and  pleasure,  without  any  act  of  Con 
gress,  and  in  utter  derogation  of  their  constitutional 
powers  and  duties,  to  grant  to  those  populations 
not  merely  that  military  protection  which  by  the 
law  of  nations  and  war  is  an  incident  to  military 
occupation  of  an  enemy's  country,  but  political 
rights  and  powers  as  States ;  to  clothe  them  with 
legislative  authority,  with  administrative  and  judi 
cial  functions,  and  the  additional  right  of  electing 
Senators  and  Representatives  to  Congress." 


444  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

Mr.  Howard  reviewed  and  controverted  the  opin 
ion  of  the  attorney  general,  which,  he  said, "  utterly 
ignores  and  casts  out  of  view  the  legal  consequen 
ces  of  the  triumph  of  our  arms,  and  undertakes  to 
construe  a  statute  passed  in  full  recognition  of  those 
consequences  as  if  there  had  been  no  rebellion,  no 
fighting,  no  victories  on  our  side,  no  surrender  on 
that  of  the  rebels.  The  bloody  history  of  the  past 
and  our  own  legislation  correct  him ;  the  almost 
countless  gravestones  of  our  slaughtered  country 
men  correct  him;  the  weeds  of  widowed  mothers, 
the  tears  of  orphaned  children,  the  crutch  of  the 
crippled  soldier  rattling  on  almost  every  northern 
as  well  as  southern  floor,  the  heavy  weight  of  taxa 
tion  upon  every  branch  of  human  industry,  correct 
him  and  rebuke  his  blindness."  The  vote  was  then 
taken  on  Mr.  Wilson's  amendment  to  authorize  the 
district  commanders  to  appoint  civilians  to  perform 
the  duties  of  persons  removed  from  office,  and  it 
was  agreed  to. — Yeas  20,  nays  15. 

It  was  then  moved  by  Mr.  Drake  to  amend  the 
sixth  section  of  the  bill  by  providing  that  any 
person  holding  an  office  who  should  engage  in 
insurrection,  or  rebellion,  should  not  be  entitled  to 
registration.  He  wished  to  get  rid  of  a  construction 
that  might  be  put  upon  the  section  as  it  now  stood. 
It  was  open  to  the  construction  that  it  only  included 
the  persons  who  engaged  in  insurrection  after  having 
held  office.  He  wanted  to  make  it  certain  that  it 


IN    CONGRESS.  445 

included  persons  who  engaged  in  rebellion  while 
holding  office. 

Mr.  Trumbull  thought  the  amendment  might  lead 
to  confusion  and  extend  the  act  beyond  what  was 
originally  contemplated.  It  might  embrace  a  person 
holding  office  under  the  rebel  government.  It  was 
not  the  intention  of  the  original  act  to  disfranchise 
any  but  those  who  held  office  prior  to  the  rebellion. 
He  thought  if  the  amendment  was  adopted  it  might 
be  construed  to  include  persons  who  held  office  after 
the  State  went  into  rebellion.  Mr.  Sumner  inquired 
if  there  could  be  an  objection  to  that  Mr.  Trum 
bull  replied  that  that  would  be  extending  the  origi 
nal  act.  Mr.  Johnson  of  Maryland  thought  the 
effect  of  the  amendment,  although  that  was  not  said 
to  be  its  purpose,  would  be  to  exclude  from  the 
right  of  voting  all  persons  who  had  acted  in  any 
efficient  capacity  in  the  rebel  States  during  the 
rebellion.  He  hoped  that  if  any  change  was  made 
in  the  law,  it  would  not  enlarge  the  class  prohibited 
from  exercising  the  right  of  franchise. 

Mr.  Wilson  said  that  if  the  amendment  meant  to 
comprehend  persons  who  held  office  under  the  States 
during  the  rebellion,  he  did  not  think  it  wise  to  add 
to  the  list  of  persons  excluded.  He  expressed  the 
opinion  that  seven  of  the  rebel  States  would  send  men 
to  Congress,  who  on  all  questions  concerning  the 
Union  of  the  country,  the  maintenance  of  the  author 
ity  of  the  government  and  of  the  equal  rights  of  all 
men  of  all  races,  would  speak,  write  and  vote  right. 


446  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

"These  rebel  States/'  said  Mr.  Wilson,  "are  to  be 
radical,  progressive  States,  devoted  to  unity,  liberty, 
justice,  education,  development.  I  venture  to  put 
upon  the  records  of  the  Senate  the  prediction  that 
two-thirds  of  the  Senators  and  Representatives  of 
those  States  will  be  as  radical  Eepublicans  as  are 
the  Republican  Senators  and  Representatives  of 
New  England." 

Mr.  Howard  was  in  favor  of  the  amendment. 
Mr.  Johnson  moved  to  amend  Mr.  Drake's  amend 
ment  so  as  to  confine  the  meaning  of  the  amendment 
to  those  persons  who  held  office  at  the  time  of  the 
rebellion  or  had  held  it  before,  and  the  amendment 
to  the  amendment  was  agreed  to.  The  question 
was  further  debated  by  Mr.  Trumbull  and  Mr.  How 
ard,  and  Mr.  Drake's  amendment  as  amended  was 
then  agreed  to. 

Mr.  Howard  then  moved  to  amend  the  bill  so 
that  the  act  of  voting  for  an  ordinance  of  secession 
at  a  popular  election,  or  holding  or  exercising  the 
functions  of  a  justice  of  the  peace,  notary  public, 
trustee,  officer,  or  agent  of  any  institution  of  learn 
ing,  commissioner  of  banks,  railroads,  canals,  roads 
and  bridges  or  highways,  trustee  of  churches, 
religious  associations  or  schools,  minister,  priest,  or 
other  person  vested  with  the  authority  to  solemnize 
marriage,  State  commissioner  or  agent  for  taking 
acknowledgments  of  deeds,  conveyances,  depositions, 
or  affidavits,  should  not  disqualify  any  person  for  regis 
tration.  The  amendment  was  opposed  by  Mr. 


IN    CONGRESS.  44T 

Pomeroy,  Mr.  Sumner,  Mr.  Tipton  and  Mr.  Nye. 
"The  man/' said  Mr.  Nye,  "who  pulled  the  trigger 
of  the  musket  is  an  infant  in  crime  compared  to 
those  who  controlled  him  and  made  him  do  it." 

The  Senate  on  the  llth,  resumed  the  considera 
tion  of  the  bill,  and  Mr.  Howard  withdrew  his 
amendment.  It  was  then  moved  by  Mr.  Howe  that 
any  person  theretofore  appointed  by  any  district 
commander  to  exercise  the  functions  of  any  civil 
officer,  might  be  removed,  the  same  as  though  such 
appointment  had  not  been  legalized  and  confirmed 
by  the  act.  At  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Edmunds,  it 
was  so  modified  as  to  apply  to  persons  thereafter 
appointed.  Amendments  were  then  moved  by  Mr. 
Drake  and  Mr.  Buckalew,  which  after  debate,  were 
ruled  out  of  order,  and  the  ruling  was  sustained  in 
each  case  by  the  Senate.  Mr.  Buckalew  then 
delivered  a  carefully  prepared  and  elaborate  speech 
on  the  mode  of  exercising  the  right  of  suffrage  so 
as  to  secure  the  representation  of  minorities,  a  sub 
ject  to  which  he  had  given  much  attention.  Mr. 
Sumner  then  moved  to  amend  the  bill  so  as  to  pro 
vide  that  the  legislatures  of  the  rebel  States  should 
establish  a  system  of  public  schools,  open  to  all 
without  distinction  of  race  or  color.  Mr.  Sumner 
spoke  briefly  but  eloquently  in  favor  of  the  propo 
sition.  Mr.  Wilson  said  that  the  people  of  all  par 
ties  in  the  South  were  for  a  system  of  common 
schools.  There  wras  nothing  so  strong  in  the  South 
ern  country,  as  the  proposition  to  establish  schools. 


448  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

He  had  not  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  that  every  one 
of  those  States  would  incorporate  such  a  provision 
in  its  constitution.  They  might  just  as  well  require 
those  States  to  plant  corn  or  cotton  as  a  condition 
of  admission,  as  to  require  them  to  establish  schools 
for  the  benefit  of  all.  Mr.  Trumbull  raised  a  point 
of  order,  and  the  amendment  was  ruled  out  of 
order.  It  wras  then  moved  by  Mr.  Sumner  to 
amend  the  bill  so  as  to  provide  that  no  person 
should  be  disqualified  as  a  member  of  a  board  of 
registration  on  account  of  color  or  race.  Mr.  Sum 
ner  said  he  had  been  informed  that  no  colored  men 
had  been  appointed  in  the  board  of  registration  in 
the  State  of  Virginia.  Mr.  Conkling  thought  there 
could  be  no  doubt  about  the  law ;  as  it  then  stood, 
black  men  were  eligible.  Mr.  Sumner  thought  the 
adoption  of  the  proviso  wrould  be  most  efficacious 
with  all  the  Generals  without  adding  any  penalty. 
Should  they  exclude  persons  on  account  of  color,  it 
would  be  a  violation  of  law ;  there  would  be  no 
votes  of  thanks  for  them,  no  hope  of  golden  spurs. 
Mr.  Conkling  said  if  it  gave  any  additional  strength 
to  the  bill,  if  it  tended  in  any  degree  to  accomplish 
the  purpose  Mr.  Sumner  had  in  view,  he  should  vote 
for  it,  but  he  did  not  wish  to  vote  for  an  amend 
ment  which  carried  nothing  with  it,  but  encumbered 
the  bill  with  unnecessary  and  verbose  conditions. 
Mr.  Wilson  said  that  General  Schofield  made  his 
appointments  very  early ;  that  he  regretted  to  learn 
that  no  colored  men  had  been  placed  upon  the 


'IN  CONGRESS.  449 

boards  of  registration.  He  thought  General  Scho- 
field  was  disposed  to  do  what  was  fair  and  just. 
General  Sheridan  had  made  his  appointments  early, 
and  no  colored  men  had  been  placed  on  the  Loards 
of  registration  until  recently  to  fill  vacancies. 
General  Pope  had  put  one  colored  man  on  each 
board,  and  he  believed  General  Sickles  would  do 
the  same  when  he  made  his  appointments.  The 
amendment  was  not  mandatory.  It  compelled 
nothing,  but  it  would  be  an  expression  of  the  feel 
ing  of  Congress  to  put  it  in  the  bill.  The  vote 
was  then  taken  on  the  amendment  and  it  was  re 
jected; — Yeas  18,  nays  18.  Mr.  Sumner  then 
moved  that  there  should  be  no  election  of  State  or 
national  officers  under  any  new  constitution  until 
the  same  had  been  approved  by  Congress.  The 
amendment  was  rejected.  The  bill  was  then 
amended  on  motion  of  Mr.  Sumner,  so  as  to  declare 
that  the  provisions  of  the  bill  should  be  liberally 
construed  in  order  that  the  full  intent  and  meaning 
thereof  should  be  completely  carried  out.  It  was 
then  moved  by  Mr.  Sumner,  that  for  the  purpose 
of  carrying  out  the  act,  all  persons  should  be  con 
sidered  in  the  military  or  naval  service  from  the 
date  of  their  being  borne  on  the  army  or  navy  reg 
isters,  but  the  amendment  was  rejected. — Yeas  13, 
nays  21.  Mr.  Sumner  then  moved  that  any  person 
who  should  prevent  or  attempt  to  prevent  the  exe 
cution  of  the  reconstruction  acts,  should  be  deemed 
guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  be  punished  by  fine 
29 


450  RECONSTRUCTION  MEASURES 

or  imprisonment.  The  amendment  was  briefly  op 
posed  by  Mr.  Trumbull  and  Mr.  Edmunds,  and  re 
jected. — Yeas  13,  nays  24.  It  was  then  moved  by 
Mr.  Howard  to  so  amend  the  bill  as  to  require  the 
register  to  make  a  note  or  memorandum  which 
should  be  sent  to  the  commanding  general,  setting 
forth  the  grounds  of  refusal  to  register  an  applicant, 
or  striking  his  name  from  the  list.  The  amendment 
was  agreed  to. — Yeas  20,  nays  11.  Mr.  Davis  of 
Kentucky  then  addressed  the  Senate  at  great  length 
in  opposition  to  the  bill. 

The  bill  was  then  reported  from  the  Committee 
of  the  whole  to  the  Senate,  and  the  amendments 
concurred  in,  with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Wilson's 
amendment  to  authorize  the  district  commanders  to 
appoint  civilians  to  office,  upon  which  Mr.  Bucka- 
lew  demanded  a  separate  vote.  The  amendment 
was  briefly  opposed  by  Mr.  Buckalew  and  advo 
cated  by  Mr.  Wilson,  and  was  adopted  without  a 
division.  Mr.  Sumner  then  renewed  his  amend 
ment  providing  that  no  person  should  be  disquali 
fied  as  a  member  of  any  board  of  registration  on 
account  of  color  or  race,  and  it  was  agreed  to. — 
Yeas  21,  nays  8.  On  motion  of  Mr.  Trumbull  the 
Senate  took  up  the  amendatory  reconstruction  bill 
passed  by  the  House  of  Eepresentatives  on  the  9th, 
and  Mr.  Trumbull  moved  to  amend  the  House 
bill  by  striking  out  all  after  the  enacting  clause 
and  inserting  the  Senate  bill.  The  amendment  was 
agreed  to  without  a  division.  Mr.  Buckalew  then 


ESf   CONGRESS.  451 

addressed  the  Senate  in  opposition  to  the  passage 
of  the  bill,  and  the  question  having  been  taken,  the 
bill  was  passed. — Yeas  32,  nays  6. 

In  the  House  on  the  12th,  Mr.  Stevens  of  Penn 
sylvania,  from  the  Committee  on  Reconstruction, 
reported  the  Senate  amendment  to  the  House  bill 
with  several  amendments.  Mr.  Wood  of  New  York 
hoped  the  bill  would  be  recommitted  to  the  com 
mittee  on  reconstruction,  and  that  the  committee 
would  carefully  examine  the  phraseology  of  the 
proposed  act,  weighing  well  the  differences  between 
the  bill  and  the  bill  of  the  Senate.  The  bill  of  the 
Senate  contained  fewer  sections,  and  was  clothed  in 
less  ambiguous  language.  There  was  no  attempt 
in  that  bill  to  override  entirely  the  authority  of  the 
Supreme  Court.  He  regretted  that  the  reconstruc 
tion  committee  had  not  reported  to  the  House  the 
bill  as  it  came  from  the  Senate.  Mr.  Robinson  of 
New  York  spoke  in  opposition  to  the  passage  of  the 
bill.  He  declared  that  the  lower  the  South  had 
bent  the  knee,  the  more  intolerable  had  become  the 
terms  of  pardon,  till  conditions  were  exacted  which 
none  but  bullies  would  demand  or  cravens  yield. 

"  For  the  knee  that  is  forced  had  been  better  unbent." 

Mr.  Robinson  was  followed  by  Mr.  Logan  of  Illi 
nois.  "The  Democrats,"  said  Mr.  Logan,  "seem  to 
have  forgotten  the  scenes  and  events  that  mark  the 
historical  epoch  through  which  we  have  so  recently 
passed,  and  they  seem  to  have  totally  forgotten  that 
these  pet  southern  brethren  of  theirs,  when  they 


452  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

did  occupy  seats  on  this  floor,  gave  us  practical  il 
lustrations  of  dignity  in  debate  that  made  of  this 
Hall  a  'bear  garden/  and  much  more  attractive  to 
lovers  of  gladiatorial  sports  and  patrons  of  the 
' fancy7  than  they  could  have  been  to  the  wise,  pru 
dent,  sedate,  and  good  citizen;  when  bowie-knives 
bristled  from  their  breasts,  revolvers  filled  all  their 
pockets,  and  clubs  were  substituted  among  them  for 
canes ;  when  they  spoke  to  a  northern  legislator  in 
these  Halls  with  a  scowl  on  their  brows,  threats  on 
their  lips,  and  fingers  on  triggers.  It  is  true,  we 
have  blotted  out  for  them  eternally  and  forever  the 
charming  institution  under  the  peculiar  influences 
of  which  they  imbibed  these  dogmatical  and  inso 
lent  airs ;  but  if,  when  it  was  in  full  blast,  they  could 
not  remember  that  the  style  of  manners  that  might 
do  to  drive  a  gang  of  slaves  would  not  answer  to 
persuade  a  congressional  peer,  it  is  not  at  all  prob 
able  that  time  enough  has  yet  elapsed  for  the  fact 
to  appear  in  their  manners  that  they  fully  and 
properly  realize  the  fact  in  all  its  moral  and  polit 
ical  sublimity,  that  they  are  not  somebody's  master 
yet,  and  may  again  subject  us  to  their  old  style  of 
argument,  so  peculiarly  southern." 

The  several  amendments  reported  by  the  com 
mittee  on  reconstruction,  and  the  amendments 
moved  by  Mr.  Farns  worth,  Mr.  Bout  well,  Mr. 
Schenck,  and  Mr.  Wilson  of  Iowa,  were  agreed  to. 
The  question  then  recurring  on  the  amendment  of 
the  Senate  as  amended,  Mr.  Holman  of  Indiana  de- 


IN    CONGRESS.  453 

manded  the  yeas  and  nays,  and  they  were  ordered. 
The  Senate  amendment  as  amended  by  the  House 
was  then  concurred  in. — Yeas  113,  nays  32. 

The  Senate  on  the  same  day,  on  motion  of  Mr. 
Trumbull,  proceeded  to  the  consideration  of  the 
House  amendments.  Mr.  Trumbull  said  there  were 
eight  or  ten  amendments  of  the  House ;  some  of 
them  the  Senate  could  never  agree  to,  and  there  were 
other  amendments  the  Senate  would  probably  agree 
to.  There  were  two  courses,  one  was  to  send  the 
bill  to  the  judiciary  committee  to  examine  and  re 
port — the  other  was  to  disagree  to  all  the  House 
amendments,  and  ask  a  committee  of  conference. 
He  proposed  to  send  the  amendments  to  the  judi 
ciary  committee.  Mr.  Wilson  hoped  they  would 
not  be  so  referred ;  he  thought  the  Senate  would 
concur  in  nearly  all  the  House  amendments.  He 
hoped  the  Senate  would  proceed  to  act  on  the  amend 
ments,  concur  in  such  of  them  as  they  could,  and 
send  the  others  back  to  the  House ;  the  House  might 
recede ;  if  not,  it  could  ask  a  committee  of  confer 
ence.  Mr.  Edmunds  would  pursue  the  usual  and 
straightforward  course  of  disagreeing  to  the  amend 
ments  and  having  a  committee  of  conference.  Mr. 
Sumner  would  bring  all  the  amendments  before  the 
Senate,  but  if  Senators  were  not  disposed  to  take 
that  course  he  would  refer  them  to  one  of  the  Sen 
ate  committees.  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  Mr.  Anthony, 
Mr.  Grimes,  Mr.  Henderson  and  "Mr.  Conkling  would 
disagree  to  the  amendments  and  let  them  go  to  a 


454  RECONSTRUCTION     MEASURES 

committee  of  conference.  Mr.  Hendricks  protested 
against  the  reference  to  a  committee  of  conference. 
He  thought  the  amendments  ought  to  be  considered 
in  open  Senate.  He  did  not  propose  that  the  fate 
of  ten  States  should  be  submitted  to  three  Sena 
tors  and  three  Kepresentatives.  The  Senate,  on 
motion  of  Mr.  Edmunds,  non-concurred  in  the 
House  amendments  and  asked  a  committee  of  con 
ference.  Mr.  Trumbull,  Mr.  Edmunds  and  Mr.  Hen 
dricks  were  appointed  conferees  on  the  part  of  the 
Senate.  The  House  concurred  in  the  appointment 
of  a  conference  committee,  and  Mr.  Stevens,  Mr. 
Boutwell  and  Mr.  Holman  were  appointed  conferees 
on  the  part  of  the  House. 

On  the  13th,  Mr.  Stevens  submitted  to  the  House 
the  report  of  the  committee  of  conference.  Mr. 
Stevens  said  the  committee  had  retained  the  prin 
cipal  provisions  of  the  House  bill.  The  section  in 
regard  to  penalties  for  preventing  the  execution  of 
the  reconstruction  acts,  and  the  provision  prohibit 
ing  the  removal  of  district  commanders  without  the 
consent  of  the  Senate,  had  been  given  up.  Mr. 
Stevens  begged  the  House  to  consider  that  the  Sen 
ate  was  several  furlongs  behind  the  House  in  the 
inarch  of  reform,  but  they  were  coming  up  sidelong 
—they  had  not  got  square  up.  Mr.  Holman  ex 
plained  that  he  regarded  the  conclusions  reached 
by  the  committee  of  conference  as  preferable  to 
the  proposition  of  either  House,  and  he  had  there- 
fore  signed  the  report,  although  he  was  opposed  to 


IN   CONGRESS.  455 

the  bill.     The  report  of  the  committee  was  then 
agreed  to. — Yeas  112,  nays  22. 

On  the  same  day  in  the  Senate,  Mr.  Trumbull  re 
ported  the  action  of  the  committee  of  conference. 
Mr.  Trumbull  said  the  conferees  had  endeavored  to 
carry  out  the  ideas  of  the  Senate,  and  he  thought 
they  had  substantially  done  so.  They  had  pre 
served  the  bill  as  it  passed  the  Senate,  and  no  new 
features  had  been  incorporated  into  it,  materially 
affecting  the  bill  as  it  passed  the  Senate.  Mr.  Sum- 
ner  thought  under  the  military  bills  we  should  go 
forward  and  brush  away  all  rebel  governments  in 
the  South.  Those  governments  were  centres  of 
rebel  influence  ;  they  stood  in  the  way  of  recon 
struction,  and  prevented  the  beneficial  operation  of 
the  legislation  of  Congress.  He  recorded  his  re 
gret  that  Congress  had  declined  to  enter  upon  that 
path.  Mr.  Hendricks  explained  his  reasons  for 
signing  the  report.  Mr.  Wilson  thought  if  the  law 
should  be  carried  out  on  the  part  of  the  Executive, 
the  Senator  from  Indiana  would  never  regret  that 
he  had  signed  the  report  of  the  committee  of  con 
ference.  The  passage  of  the  bill  would  complete 
the  work  of  restoration.  "I  rise  now,"  said  Mr. 
Wilson,  "to  express  the  hope  that  throughout  that 
part  of  our  country  men  of  all  parties  and  of  all 
sentiments  and  feelings  will  clearly  understand  that, 
if  they  comply  with  the  terms  and  conditions  of 
these  three  reconstruction  laws  honestly  and  faith 
fully,  all  obstacles  will  be  removed,  and  they  will 


456  RECONSTRUCTION  MEASURES 

be  admitted  into  these  Chambers.  Let  it  be  dis 
tinctly  understood  by  all  that  these  laws  are  passed 
by  Congress  to  restore  the  rebel  States  and  people 
to  their  practical  relations;  that  if  they  comply 
with  the  conditions  prescribed,  Congress  will  re 
deem  its  pledge." 

Mr.  Fowler  was  not  satisfied  with  the  bill,  for  it 
did  not  go  to  the  bottom  of  the  subject,  but  he 
should  vote  for  the  report  of  the  committee.  Mr. 
Johnson  avowed  his  purpose  to  vote  for  the  report 
of  the  committee,  and  sincerely  hoped  that  it  would 
be  the  last  occasion,  when  in  the  judgment  of  any 
member  of  Congress,  it  would  be  deemed  necessary 
to  legislate  on  the  subject.  Mr.  Buckalew  express 
ed  his  surprise  at  the  character  of  the  report  of  the 
committee  of  conference,  as  he  had  no  expectation 
that  the  committee  would  have  been  able  to  obtain 
from  the  House  committee  so  many  concessions  to 
the  opinions  of  the  Senate.  Mr.  Cameron  of  Penn 
sylvania  desired  the  restoration  of  the  Union,  but 
he  wanted  the  people  who  had  been  in  rebellion  to 
realize  that  they  had  done  wrong.  They  had  been 
rebels  to  the  government,  they  had  tried  to  destroy 
it,  and  they  had  no  right  to  expect  the  clemency 
with  which  Congress  had  treated  them.  Mr.  Davis 
of  Kentucky  conceded  that  the  crimes  of  the  peo 
ple  of  the  South  had  been  very  great,  but  he  de 
nied  that  the  crimes  of  any  portion  of  the  people 
could  increase  the  powers  of  Congress.  He  believed 
that  consistency  and  principle  and  the  highest  sense 


IN   CONGRESS.  457 

of  duty  required  him  and  every  man  who  believed 
that  the  original  measure  was  unconstitutional,  to 
vote  against  that  measure.  The  report  of  the  com 
mittee  was  then  agreed  to. — Yeas  31,  nays  6. 

In  the  House  on  the  19th,  the  President's  message 
was  received  and  read,  giving  his  reasons  for  with 
holding  his  signature  to  the  bill.  Mr.  Boutwell  of 
Massachusetts  declared  that  the  language  of  the 
message  convinced  him  that  it  was  vain  to  seek  by 
legislation  to  protect  the  freedmen  of  the  South,  to 
institute  loyal  governments  in  that  region,  or  to  in 
fuse  justice  into  the  public  policy  of  ten  States, 
while  the  Executive  authority  of  the  country  was 
in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Johnson. 

Mr.  Boutwell  was  followed  by  Mr.  Butler  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  in  a  sharp  and  searching  criticism  of  the 
veto  message.  Mr.  Butler  said :  "  I  am  ready  for 
one  to  vote  this  bill  shall  become  a  law,  notwith 
standing  the  objections  of  the  President,  and  leave 
the  President  to  determine  whether  he  will  execute 
it  or  refuse  to  do  so,  as  he  threatens ;  and  then  see 
whether  the  House  of  Representatives  will  bring 
him,  for  this  and  his  former  violations  of  the  Con 
stitution  and  usurpation  of  power,  before  the  Senate 
for  trial  according  to  the  mode  and  the  only  mode 
pointed  out  by  the  Constitution  to  relieve  the  coun 
try  of  a  bad  and  unscrupulous  ruler." 

Mr.  Boyer  of  Pennsylvania  was  sure  that  the 
speeches  of  Mr.  Boutwell  and  Mr.  Butler,  when  read 
by  the  people  of  the  country,  would  be  convincing 


458  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

proof  of  the  desperate  attempt  to  grasp  at  any  ex 
cuse  for  the  purpose  of  removing  the  last  obstacle  to 
the  progress  of  the  radical  majority  towards  the 
complete  subversion  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
country,  and  the  perfection  and  intrenchment  of 
despotism,  not  only  in  ten  States  of  the  Union,  but 
throughout  them  all.  Mr.  Williams  of  Pennsylva 
nia  said,  "there  is  a  time  when  forbearance  ceases 
to  be  a  virtue ;  there  is  a  time  when  timid  counsels 
which  betray  like  treason,  must  cease  to  govern  the 
legislative  assembly  of  this  nation.  I  think  this 
time  has  now  arrived.  For  the  first  time  in  our  his 
tory  the  chief  Executive  Magistrate  of  this  nation 
strides  into  its  great  council  chamber,  and  flings  his 
mace  in  the  way  of  defiance  at  our  very  feet."  Mr. 
Schenck  said  that  the  President  stood  as  an  ob 
struction  in  the  pathway  which  the  law-making 
power  of  this  country  seeks  to  pursue  in  order  to 
restore  peace  to  an  entire  and  unbroken  Union. 

"  One  page  of  Grotius,"  said  Mr.  Stevens,  "  one 
half  chapter  or  lecture  of  Rutherford,  one  page  of 
Yattel,  and  even  less  from  that  last,  best,  and  tersest 
of  publicists,  Sargent  Wildman,  must  convince 
every  man  who  will  give  up  his  prejudice  in  regard 
to  the  States  being  of  a  mongrel  character,  part  in 
and  part  out  of  the  Union,  that  they  are  conquer 
ed  territory  of  the  United  States." 

Mr.  Pruyn  of  New  York  said  that  the  President 
appealed  to  the  ballot-box,  and  he  asked  if  Mr. 
Boutwell  was  afraid  of  that.  He  said  that  a  part 


IN   CONGRESS.  459 

of  that  gentleman's  speech  would  have  been  very 
proper  in  a  political  electioneering  contest ;  a  part 
of  it  would  have  suited  an  era  of  the  French  revo 
lution  ;  but  it  did  not  befit  the  temper  of  the  times, 
if  there  was  left  any  respect  for  the  principles  of 
constitutional  liberty.  Mr.  Wilson  of  Iowa,  chair 
man  of  the  Judiciary  Committee,  said  that  when 
the  House  of  Representatives  charged  the  commit 
tee  with  investigation  into  the  conduct  of  the  Presi 
dent,  he  did  not  understand  that  it  was  for  the  pur 
pose  of  having  it  disposed  of  as  a  partisan  question. 
"I  will,"  said  Mr.  Wilson,  "be  controlled  by  the  law 
and  the  facts,  and  by  nothing  else."  The  question 
was  then  taken  on  the  passage  of  the  bill,  notwith 
standing  the  objections  of  the  President. — Yeas  108, 
nays  25.  The  Speaker  then  announced  that  two- 
thirds  having  voted  in  the  affirmative,  the  bill  had 
again  passed,  and  would  be  transmitted  to  the 
Senafce. 

In  the  Senate,  the  President's  message  vetoing  the 
bill  was  read,  and  Mr.  Trumbull  remarked  that  the 
indefensible  position  assumed  in  the  message  might 
well  call  for  a  reply,  but  he  should  forego  any  re 
marks  if  it  was  the  pleasure  of  the  Senate  to  take 
the  vote  at  that  time.  The  question  was  then 
taken,  and  the  bill  passed,  notwithstanding  the  ob 
jections  of  the  President. — Yeas  30,  nays  6.  The 
President  of  the  Senate  then  announced  that  two- 
thirds  of  the  Senators  present  having  voted  for  the 
bill,  it  had  become  a  law,  notwithstanding  the  veto 
of  the  President. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

DISBANDMENT  OF  REBEL  MILITIA.— ABOLITION  OF  WHIPPING 
AND  PEONAGE. 

Mr.  Wilson's  Joint  Resolution  to  disband  rebel  Militia. — Remarks  of  Mr. 
Buckalew,  Mr.  Wilson,  Mr.  Lane. — Mr.  Hendrick's  motion  to  strike  out, 
agreed  to. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Fessenden,  Mr.  Wilson,  Mr.  Hendricks,  Mr. 
Willey. — Subject  incorporated  with  Appropriation  Bill. — Passage  of  the 
Bill. — Concurrence  of  the  House. — Mr.  Wilson's  Joint  Resolution  to 
abolish  corporeal  punishment. — Reported  from  Judiciary  Committee. — 
General  Sickles'  order  revoked  by  the  President. — The  subject  reported 
from  Military  Committee  in  a  Bill  to  increase  pay  of  Army  Officers. — 
Motion  of  Mr.  Hendricks  to  strike  out,  agreed  to — Inserted  as  an  amend 
ment  to  appropriation  bill  and  passed. — Mr.  Wilson's  Bill  to  strike  out  the 
word  "  white  "  from  the  Militia  Laws. — Its  passage. — Mr.  Simmer's  Reso 
lution  respecting  Peonage. — Mr.  Wilson's  Bill. — Remarks  of  Mr.  Davis, 
Mr.  Lane,  Mr.  Doolittle  and  Mr.  Buckalew. — Passage  of  the  Bill. — Proc 
lamation  of  the  Governor  of  New  Mexico. 

IN  the  Senate,  on  the  19th  of  February,  1866,  Mr. 
Wilson  introduced  a  Joint  Resolution  providing  that 
the  militia  forces  organized  or  in  service  in  Virginia, 
North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida,  Ala 
bama,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  Arkansas  and  Texas, 
should  be  forthwith  disbanded,  and  that  the  further 
organization,  arming  or  calling  into  service  of  the 
militia  forces  in  those  States  should  be  prohibited 
until  authorized  by  Congress.  The  resolution  was 


IN   CONGRESS.  461 

referred  to  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs  and 
reported  by  Mr.  Wilson  on  the  1st  day  of  March, 
without  amendment.  No  action  having  been  taken 
upon  the  resolution,  it  was  incorporated  into  the  bill 
for  the  temporary  increase  of  the  pay  of  the  officers 
of  the  army,  which  was  taken  up  at  the  next  session. 
On  the  19th  of  February,  it  was  taken  up  for  con 
sideration,  and  Mr.  Buckalew  of  Pennsylvania 
desired  some  explanation  of  the  provision  disband 
ing  the  militia  forces  in  the  rebel  States.  Mr. 
Wilson  replied,  that  military  organizations  had  been 
made  in  some  of  the  States ;  that  these  organiza 
tions  were  generally  officered  by  men  who  had  dis 
tinguished  themselves  in  the  rebellion ;  that  some  of 
them  wore  the  gray  and  did  not  carry  the  flag.  Mf. 
Buckalew  had  heard  no  sufficient  reason  for  the 
enactment  of  this  general,  sweeping  provision  for 
the  disbandment  of  the  military  forces  in  the  rebel 
States.  Mr.  Lane  of  Indiana  thought  these  local 
militia  organizations  were  not  in  harmony  with  the 
government  or  the  union  sentiment  of  the  country, 
or  likely  to  promote  peace.  At  the  suggestion  of 
Mr.  Hendricks,  the  section  was  stricken  out  of  the  bill. 
On  the  26th,  Mr.  Wilson  moved  to  amend  the  army 
appropriation  bill  by  inserting  the  provision  for  the 
disbandment  of  militia  forces  in  the  States  lately 
in  rebellion.  Mr.  Fessenden  desired  an  explanation 
why  the  amendment  should  be  put  upon  the  appro 
priation  bill.  Mr.  Wilson  stated  that  these  organ 
izations  had  been  used  in  some  parts  of  the  country 


462  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

to  disarm  portions  of  the  people.  Those  organiza 
tions  were  completely  rebel,  in  the  men  composing 
them  and  in  the  spirit  by  which  they  were  animated. 
Mr.  Willey  would  be  willing  to  favor  discriminating 
legislation  to  regulate  the  use  of  arms  by  the  people 
of  the  South,  but  he  was  opposed  to  so  sweeping 
an  enactment.  Mr.  Hendricks  thought  that  the 
measure  was  one  of  great  importance  and  that  it 
ought  to  be  presented  as  a  distinct  and  separate  bill, 
and  not  proposed  as  an  amendment  to  an  appropria 
tion  bill.  Mr.  Wilson  replied  that  it  was  reported 
in  the  army  bill  and  stricken  out  on  the  suggestion 
of  the  Senator  from  Indiana.  He  was  forced  to 
yield  then,  but  would  not  yield  now,  as  he  did  not 
mean  that  the  rebels  should  be  armed.  It  was 
further  debated  by  Mr.  Hendricks,  Mr.  Willey,  Mr. 
Wilson  and  Mr.  Lane,  and  agreed  to ; — Yeas  33, 
nays  11.  The  House  concurred  and  it  became  a 
law. 

In  the  Senate,  on  the  20th  of  December,  1866, 
Mr.  Wilson  introduced  a  Joint  Resolution  authoriz 
ing  the  President  to  prevent  the  infliction  of  corpo 
real  punishment  in  the  States  lately  in  rebellion.  It 
declared  that  the  practice  of  inflicting  corporeal 
punishment  for  offences  against  laws  was  barbarous 
in  character  and  degrading  in  influence,  and  that 
the  freedmen  in  their  helplessness  were  liable  to  be 
subjected  to  that  degrading  punishment ;  and  that 
the  President  be  authorized  and  instructed  to  direct 
the  officers  of  the  army  and  navy  and  of  the  Freed- 


IN    CONGRESS.  463 

men's  Bureau  to  prevent  the  infliction  of  such 
punishments.  The  resolution  was  referred  to  the 
Committee  on  the  Judiciary,  and  reported  by  Mr. 
Trumbull  on  the  7th  day  of  February  in  a  new 
draft.  General  Sickles  commanding  the  department 
of  North  and  South  Carolina  had  issued  an  order 
prohibiting  whipping  as  a  punishment  for  offences 
against  the  laws.  The  President  on  the  representa 
tion  of  some  of  the  civil  officers  of  those  States 
had  revoked  the  order.  The  object  of  the  resolution 
was  to  put  an  end  to  a  mode  of  punishment  bar 
barizing  in  its  tendencies  and  which  was  especially 
oppressive  to  the  freedmen. 

On  the  12th  day  of  February,  1867,  Mr.  Wilson 
reported  from  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs 
a  bill  to  temporarily  increase  the  pay  of  the  officers 
of  the  army,  the  eleventh  section  of  which  provided 
that  whipping  should  be  prohibited  in  the  States 
lately  in  rebellion.  Pending  the  consideration  of 
the  bill,  on  the  19th  of  February,  Mr.  Hendricks  of 
Indiana  proposed  to  strike  out  that  section,  and  it 
was  so  stricken  out;  but  on  the  26th  of  February, 
it  was  inserted  in  the  army  appropriation  bill,  was 
concurred  in  by  the  House  and  became  the  law  of 
the  land. 

On  the  12th  of  February,  1867,  Mr.  Wilson  from 
the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  reported  the  bill 
to  provide  for  the  temporary  increase  of  the  pay 
of  the  officers  of  the  army.  It  was  provided  in  the 
bill  that  the  act,  "more  effectually  to  provide  for  the 


464  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

national  defence  by  establishing  a  uniform  militia 
throughout  the  United  States/'  approved  May  8? 
1792,  and  the  acts  amendatory  thereof,  be  amended 
by  striking  out  the  word  "white."  The  bill  passed 
and  the  word  "white"  was  stricken  from  the  militia 
laws,  so  that  colored  persons  become  a  part  of  the 
militia  of  the  United  States. 

In  the  Senate  on  the  3d  of  January,  1867,  Mr. 
Sunnier  submitted  a  resolution  that  the  Committee 
on  the  Judiciary  be  directed  to  consider  if  any  leg_ 
islation  was  needed  to  prevent  the  system  of  peonage 
in  New  Mexico,  and  to  prohibit  the  employment  of 
the  army  in  surrendering  persons  claimed  as  peons. 
After  debate  in  which  Mr.  Sumner,  Mr.  Conness, 
and  Mr.  Trumbull  participated,  the  resolution  was 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs. 

On  the  26th  of  January,  Mr.  Wilson  of  Massa 
chusetts  introduced  a  bill  to  abolish  and  forever 
prohibit  the  system  of  peonage  in  the  Territory  of 
New  Mexico  and  other  parts  of  the  United  States, 
which  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Military 
Affairs,  and  on  the  28th,  reported  from  the  commit 
tee  by  Mr.  Wilson  with  an  amendment.  On  the 
19th  of  February,  the  Senate  proceeded  to  the  con 
sideration  of  the  bill,  and  on  motion  of  Mr.  Wilson, 
all  after  the  enacting  clause  was  stricken  out,  and  a 
substitute  proposed,  providing  that  the  holding  of 
any  person  in  peonage  should  be  abolished,  and 
any  laws  or  usages  of  the  Territory  of  New  Mexico 
or  of  any  other  Territory  or  State  which  had  estab- 


IX    CONGRESS  465 

lished,  or  by  which  any  attempt  should  be  made  to 
establish  the  service  or  labor  of  any  persons  as 
peons,  should  be  null  and  void,  and  any  person  who 
should  hold,  arrest  or  return,  or  cause  or  aid  in  the 
arrest  or  return  of  any  person  as  a  peon,  should  be 
fined  not  less  than  $1000  nor  more  than  $5000, 
and  by  imprisonment  not  less  than  one,  nor  more 
than  five  years,  at  the  discretion  of  the  court ;  that 
it  should  be  the  duty  of  all  persons  in  the  military 
or  civil  service  in  New  Mexico,  to  aid  in  the  enforce 
ment  of  the  act,  and  any  persons  who  should 
obstruct  or  interfere  with  its  enforcement  should 
be  liable  to  said  penalties ;  and  any  officer  or  other 
person  in  the  military  service,  who  should  so  offend 
should  be  dismissed  the  service  and  be  ineligible  to 
reappointment  to  office. 

Mr.  Davis  of  Kentucky  desired  that  a  compre 
hensive  definition  of  the  term  "peonage,"  should  be 
given  for  the  information  of  the  Senate.  Mr.  Wilson 
said  it  was  a  system  of  modified  servitude  inherited 
from  Mexico.  The  system  had  been  of  the  most 
wretched  and  degrading  character  and  it  was  sup 
posed  that  nearly  two  thousand  Indians  were  held 
in  that  condition  in  New  Mexico.  The  object  of 
the  bill  was  to  make  it  the  duty  of  the  civil  and 
military  officers  of  the  United  States,  to  put  an  end 
to  it.  Mr.  Lane  of  Indiana  said  that  peonage  was 
established  by  the  laws  of  Mexico,  which  existed  in 
New  Mexico  at  the  time  of  the  conquest.  The 
system  was  that  where  a  Mexican  owed  a  debt  his 


466  RECONSTRUCTION   MEASURES 

creditor  had  a  right  to  his  labor  until  the  debt  was 
paid.  The  debtor  became  a  domestic  servant  and 
he  and  his  family  were  supported  by  the  creditor 
and  the  peonage  never  ended  until  the  debt 
was  paid.  It  was  a  kind  of  servitude  for  debt 
which  was  inconsistent  with  our  institutions.  Mr. 
Davis  suggested  the  postponement  of  the  bill  until 
after  the  4th  of  March.  Mr.  Doolittle  said  it  was  a 
system  of  serfdom,  and  that  there  were  about  twa 
thousand  persons  held  in  that  condition ;  they  were 
in  the  employment  of  wealthy  persons  owning 
lands,  and  they  lived  upon  them  and  cultivated 
them  as  serfs.  Mr.  Buckalew  said  that  there  was 
no  doubt  of  our  jurisdiction  to  enact  such  a  law. 
He  had  some  knowledge  of  the  system  and  thought 
the  necessity  for  the  law  was  evident.  Eventually 
the  courts  would  weed  out  the  system  effectually, 
but  it  would  remain  there  a  considerable  time 
unless  Congress  should  interpose.  Upon  the  pub 
lication  of  such  a  law,  the  whole  system  would  fall 
to  the  ground.  He  thought  it  a  disgrace  that  it 
should  be  permitted  where  the  power  of  the  Gov 
ernment  could  extend.  In  practice  it  was  not  a 
system  of  service  for  payment  of  a  debt  in  view  of 
which  the  servitude  commenced.  The.  almost  in 
variable  fact  was  that  the  peon  continued  accumu 
lating  debt,  the  terms  of  which  were  always 
unfavorable  to  him,  and  for  a  nominal  consideration 
he  was  continued  in  service  during  his  lifetime.  It 
was  a  system  which  degraded  both  the  owner  of 


IN    CONGRESS.  467 

the  labor  and  the  laborer,  and  the  sooner  it  was 
terminated  the  better. 

The  vote  was  then  taken  and  the  bill  passed 
without  a  division.  On  the  2d  of  March,  it  passed 
the  House,  received  the  signature  of  the  President, 
and  the  Governor  of  New  Mexico  issued  a  procla 
mation  directing  the  officers  of  the  Territory  to 
enforce  its  provisions. 


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